ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Bovine Tuberculosis

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the effects on the incidence of bovine TB of measures introduced in January 2013 to improve the testing regime and restrict cattle movements; and what assessment his Department has made of the level of compliance of English farms with those measures.

David Heath: It is too early to assess the effectiveness of bovine TB measures introduced in January 2013, and of the level of compliance on English farms.

Circuses: Animal Welfare

Tom Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects any draft legislation to ban wild animals performing in circuses to be published.

David Heath: The draft Wild Animals in Circuses Bill was published on 16 April 2013. Copies of the draft Bill are available in the Vote Office.

Floods: Insurance

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when his discussions with the Association of British Insurers on the affordability of insurance in flood-affected areas will conclude; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: I refer my hon. Friend to my previous answer of 24 January 2013, Official Report, column 408W.

Food and Environment Research Agency

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff are employed by the Food and Environment Research Agency in Cumbria; and what proportion of those staff are paid at or above the relevant level of the living wage.

Richard Benyon: Fera employs one member of staff based in the Cumbria region. This member of staff is paid above the Living Wage Foundation's living wage.

Horsemeat

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) monetary value and (b) weight is of horsemeat slaughtered in each of the last four months for which figures are available.

David Heath: DEFRA does not collect this information. The Food Standards Agency collects information on throughput in terms of number of animals slaughtered but not on weight or monetary value.

Horsemeat

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the contribution of the horse meat slaughtering industry to the UK economy.

David Heath: No estimate has been made of the value of the horsemeat industry to the UK economy, there are four abattoirs in Great Britain approved to slaughter horses. Some 9,405 horses were slaughtered in the UK for human consumption in 2012. The main destination for horsemeat exports is France.
	
		
			 UK exports of meat from horses, asses, mules or hinnies 
			 Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Value (£000) 1,886 3,718 4,879 3,890 4,008 
			 Volume (Tonnes) 999 1,956 2,827 2,192 2,233 
			 Source: H M Revenue and Customs—Data prepared by Trade Statistics, Analysis and Evidence Team, DEFRA 2012 data is subject to amendments

Pets: Sales

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  if he will bring forward legislative proposals on the advertising, sale and supply of pets;
	(2)  what discussions he had with charities and other organisations regarding the sale of pets online;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the effect of trends in the online sale of pets on animal welfare.

David Heath: There is already legislation in place that regulates the selling of pet animals which is enforced by local authorities and there are no proposals to review these controls. DEFRA officials are in regular contact with the Pet Advertising Advisory Group (PAAG—a group of animal welfare, animal keeping and veterinary organisations) about developing best practice to advertise and sell pets online. We have not carried out an assessment of the effects of online sales of pets on animal welfare.

Timber: EU Law

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what penalties are in place for infringements of the EU Illegal Timber (Due Diligence) Regulation.

David Heath: Powers to enforce the EU Timber Regulation in the UK are provided for in a Statutory Instrument: the Timber and Timber Products (Placing on the Market) Regulations 2013. A description of the penalties can be found in the Explanatory Memorandum accompanying the Statutory Instrument, on the legislation.gov.uk website at:
	http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/233/memorandum/contents
	I have also placed a copy in the House Library and set out the relevant paragraph below:
	“7.4 In its Coalition programme for government, the Government committed to making the import or possession of illegal timber a criminal offence. The Timber and Timber Products (Placing on the Market) Regulations 2013 provide for new criminal offences for: placing illegally harvested timber or timber products on the EU market; failure to exercise due diligence when placing timber or timber products on the EU market, and failure to maintain and regularly evaluate the due diligence system used. The maximum penalty for these offences is two years' imprisonment and an unlimited fine. Further offences provided for are: failure by those placing timber or timber products on the market or those trading in such products to keep and make available specified information; failure to comply with a formal notice to improve issued by the enforcement body, and the obstruction of inspectors. The maximum penalty for these offences is a fine of up to level five on the standard scale (currently £5000). Related enforcement powers of entry, inspection, and seizure of illegally harvested timber are also provided for in the Regulations.”

TRANSPORT

Kirknewton Station

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to ensure that proposals by Network Rail to install replacement full-width manually-controlled barriers with obstacle detection safeguard railway safety, pedestrian safety and timely access to the platforms of Kirknewton Station, West Lothian at peak times.

Simon Burns: The impact of Network Rail's proposals on the safety and convenience of all users of Kirknewton level crossing will be fully considered before a new Level Crossing Order is issued for the site.

Recruitment

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what amount his Department spent on advertising job vacancies in each year from 2005 to 2009.

Norman Baker: This response covers six of the Department for Transport's Executive Agencies:
	Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
	Highways Agency
	Vehicle Certification Agency
	Maritime & Coastguard Agency
	Government Car & Despatch Agency
	Vehicle & Operator Services Agency
	The central Department and the Driving Standards Agency are unable to provide the requested data due to disproportionate cost:
	
		
			 Year Total 
			 2005 £1,047,149.92 
			 2006 £1,362,917.58 
			 2007 £1,556,473.71 
			 2008 £2,204,508.64 
			 2009 £445,243.25

SCOTLAND

Government Procurement Card

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland with reference to the Freedom of Information request made to his Department on 23 January 2013 and responded to on 3 April 2013 on Government Procurement Cards, what was purchased from United Airlines for £263.17.

David Mundell: The hon. Member refers to a Freedom of Information request received on 22 January, responded to on 23 January 2013, and published on the Scotland Office website on 3 April 2013.
	The purchase made from United Airlines for £263.17 was for an upgrade to the Scotland Office special adviser's flight from Scotland to the United States. The purpose was to allow the special adviser to work with the Secretary of State for Scotland, the right hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (Michael Moore), on a speech to be delivered the following day at Georgetown university. The speech was made during the course of a diplomatic and trade mission to the United States and Canada.

Government Procurement Card

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland with reference to the Freedom of Information request responded to by his Department on 23 January 2013 and published on 4 April 2013, on Government Procurement Cards, what was purchased from Air Canada at a value of £16.

David Mundell: The purchase made from Air Canada for £16 was a routine baggage charge levied on a flight from Washington DC to Ottawa for the special adviser to the Secretary of State for Scotland. This purchase was made during the course of a diplomatic and trade mission to the United States and Canada.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what criteria are used in (a) his Department and (b) each public body for which he is responsible to determine which officials receive bonus payments.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not employ staff directly. All staff that join the Office do so on an assignment, secondment or loan agreement from other Government bodies but principally from the Scottish Government or the Ministry of Justice. The Scotland Office follows the policies and criteria set by the officials' parent body when awarding bonuses.
	The only public body that the Scotland Office is responsible for is the Boundary Commission for Scotland. The Boundary Commission for Scotland does not employ staff directly. All staff that join the Boundary Commission do so on assignment, secondment or loan agreement from the Scottish Government. The Boundary Commission follows the policies and criteria set by the Scottish Government.

Public Expenditure

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the estimated underspend by his Department was in each year since 2007-08.

David Mundell: The underspend by the Scotland Office and the Office of the Advocate-General since 2007-08 is as follows:
	
		
			  £000 
			 2007-08 140 
			 2008-09 469 
			 2009-10 497 
			 2010-11 201 
			 2011-12 786 
		
	
	The Scotland Office and Office of the Advocate underspend in 2011-12 is mainly attributable to the potential calls on reserves being either resolved or less than had earlier been anticipated, together with planned efficiencies within the Offices.

Public Expenditure

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the reasons were for his Department's underspend in 2012-13.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office accounts for 2012-13 have not yet been finalised and audited and therefore information on the Department's underspend is not available.

Visits Abroad

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many overseas visits have been made by Ministers of his Department to support trade and investment in each year since 2010.

David Mundell: Scotland Office Ministers have made eight overseas visits to support trade and investment, the details of which are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Visit Minister 
			 2011 USA David Mundell 
			 2011 Brussels Michael Moore 
			 2011 Brazil Michael Moore 
			 2012 USA David Mundell 
			 2012 Brussels Michael Moore 
			 2012 USA/Canada Michael Moore 
			 2013 Malawi David Mundell 
			 2013 Brazil Michael Moore

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum: Eritrea

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum applications have been made by citizens of Eritrea in each of the last three years; what the outcome was of such applications; and how many such applicants have since been returned to Eritrea.

Mark Harper: holding answer 15 April 2013
	The following table shows the number of asylum applications received from Eritrea, what the outcome was of such applications and how many of those applicants have been removed for the years 2009 to 2011, as at May 2012 when the statistics were compiled. It is not possible to determine from these data the country the asylum applicant was removed to.
	Figures relate to main applicants only.
	
		
			 Outcome analysis of asylum applications for Eritrea, as at May 2012 
			 Year of application: 2009 2010 2011 
			 Total main applicants 1,333 703 797 
			 Total initial decisions 1,229 675 722 
			 Granted asylum 618 414 530 
			 Granted HP/DL 54 35 18 
			 Refused asylum, HP or DL 557 226 174 
			 Applications withdrawn 56 15 11 
			 Cases with decision not known 48 13 64 
			 Appeals lodged 284 132 124 
			 Allowed appeals 121 61 60 
			 Dismissed appeals 145 63 53 
			 Appeals withdrawn 10 5 6 
			 Appeals with outcome not known 8 3 5 
			 Total fresh claims 25 5 1 
			 Enforced removals 248 83 38 
			 Notified voluntary departures 0 0 1 
			 Assisted voluntary returns 3 0 0 
			 Other voluntary departures 1 2 0 
			 Estimated final outcomes: Grants of asylum 738 474 590 
			 Estimated final outcomes: Grants of HP/DL 55 36 18 
			 Estimated final outcomes: Refused asylum, HP or DL or withdrawn 484 177 120 
			 Estimated final outcomes: Cases with decision not known 56 16 69 
			 Notes: 1. Year relates to the period in which the application was made; the actual initial decision and/or appeal may have occurred in a different year. 2. Discretionary leave (DL) may be considered for an individual who is not accepted as being in need of international protection (i.e. asylum or humanitarian protection (HP)) but who is able to demonstrate particularly compelling reasons why removal would not be appropriate. Discretionary Leave is normally granted for a period of three years. Further leave may be granted, subject to a review of the individual’s circumstances. Humanitarian protection (HP) is leave granted to a person who is not a refugee under the refugee convention but who would, if removed, face in the country of return a real risk to life or person arising from the death penalty; unlawful killing; torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; or serious and individual threat by reason of indiscriminate violence in situations of international or internal armed conflict. If a person has been refused asylum they may still be considered for this status. Humanitarian protection is normally granted for a period of three years, after which the person can apply for indefinite leave to remain. A person who is granted humanitarian protection is allowed to work and has access to public funds. 3. ‘Cases with decision not known’ and ‘Appeals with decision not known’ reflect that no confirmation of a decision on the case/appeal had been received when the statistics were compiled on 7 May 2012. 4. Appeals do not include outcomes of cases reconsidered prior to appeal. Excludes cases which were successful after appeal to the Upper Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber. 
		
	
	Figures for 2012 will be published in the Immigration Statistics April-June 2013 release on 29 August 2013.
	The data presented above, the outcome analysis of asylum applications, are published in table as.06 (Asylum data tables Volume 2) of Immigration Statistics. The latest release Immigration Statistics October-December 2012 is available in the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-q4-2012/
	Data on the number of Eritreans who have claimed asylum at some point and have had an enforced removal or who have departed voluntarily by destination (Home, EU country or elsewhere) are available from table rv.05 (Removals and voluntary departure tables Volume 3) of Immigration Statistics. These data are presented on the date of departure, so do not necessarily relate to the year of asylum application. The table is published in the release noted above.

Computers

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) desktop computers, (b) laptop computers and (c) tablet devices her Department has purchased in the last two years.

James Brokenshire: In the last two years, the Home Office and its agencies have purchased the following: (a) 3,975 desktop computers, (b) 3,723 laptop computers and (c) 68 tablet devices.

Entry Clearances

David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government is taking to monitor the regional effect of the new family migration rules which came into force in July 2012.

Mark Harper: We will monitor the impact of the new family migration rules. The Migration Advisory Committee, in providing advice on the level of the minimum income threshold for the sponsorship of a family migrant, discussed whether the minimum income threshold should vary by region, but advised that there was no clear case for this approach.

Entry Clearances

David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many successful family visa applications were accepted from (a) Bradford, (b) Yorkshire and Humber, (c) London and (d) the UK between July 2010 and July 2011;
	(2)  how many successful family visa applications were accepted from (a) Bradford, (b) Yorkshire and Humber, (c) London and (d) the UK between July 2011 and July 2012;
	(3)  how many successful visa applications under the new family migration rules have been accepted from (a) Bradford, (b) Yorkshire and Humber, (c) London and (d) the UK since July 2012.

Mark Harper: Entry clearance visa applications are made from outside the UK. The available information relates to the total number of visas issued and does not provide a breakdown by the location of the visa applicant's sponsor. The numbers issued are given in the following table:
	
		
			 Entry clearance visas issued by category 
			  2010 2011 2012 
			 Category Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 
			 Total family route 12,968 12,587 13,720 14,438 12,023 10,005 13,163 10,532 10,885 10,703 10,030 9,307 
			 Of which:             
			 Family route: Partner 9,080 8,939 9,571 10,824 8,555 7,041 9,870 8,030 8,021 7,986 7,636 6,800 
			 Family route: Partner (for settlement) 674 495 529 354 309 392 397 238 318 306 241 233 
			 Family route: Child 23 30 29 25 21 33 26 17 19 11 26 22 
			 Family route: Child (for settlement) 1,248 1,446 1,579 1,318 1,340 1,088 1,220 948 1,106 1,117 934 848 
			 Family route: Other 1,091 1,075 1,367 1,354 1,324 920 1,131 931 922 871 791 1,127 
			 Family route: Other (for settlement) 852 602 645 563 474 531 519 368 499 412 402 277 
			 Source: Immigration Statistics, October-December 2012, table be.04.q

Mobile Phones

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which company holds the largest contract to provide mobile telephony services to her Department; how much was paid under the contract in the last year for which figures are available; how many individual services are covered by the contract; when the contract was awarded; when the contract will next be renewed; and for how long.

James Brokenshire: Vodafone holds the only contract to provide mobile telephony to the Home Office and the UK Border Agency (UKBA). The Home Office and UKBA spent £1.6 million under this contract in 2011-12.
	The current contract started on 30 June 2011 and expires on 29 June 2015. The Home Office will re-tender for these services and decide the duration of the next contract closer to the expiration of the current contract.
	The individual services that Vodafone provide under this contract are listed as follows:
	Provision of mobile telephones.
	Provision of BlackBerries.
	Provision of mobile broadband devices for use in laptops.
	Provision of signal booster devices.
	Provision of ad hoc texting services on request.
	Provision of hand held scanners that operate via Vodafone SIM cards.
	Provision of connections and routers that support the hand held scanners.
	Provision of Asset Management Services.
	Provision of a Vodafone Onsite staff member based at GPS Service Operations, Newport.

Mobile Phones

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which company holds the largest contract to provide mobile telephony services to the Identity and Passport Service; how much was paid under the contract in the last year for which figures are available; how many individual services are covered by the contract; when the contract was awarded; when the contract will next be renewed; and for how long.

James Brokenshire: Vodafone holds the only contract to provide mobile telephony to the Identity and Passport Service (IPS). IPS spent £79,000 under this contract in 2011-12.
	The current contract started on 30 June 2011 and expires on 29 June 2015. The Home Office will re-tender for these services and decide the duration of the next contract closer to the expiration of the current contract.
	The individual services that Vodafone provide under this contract are listed as follows:
	Provision of mobile telephones.
	Provision of BlackBerries.
	Provision of mobile broadband devices for use in laptops.
	Provision of signal booster devices.
	Provision of ad hoc texting services on request.
	Provision of hand held scanners that operate via Vodafone SIM cards.
	Provision of connections and routers that support the hand held scanners.
	Provision of Asset Management Services.
	Provision of a Vodafone Onsite staff member based at GPS Service Operations, Newport.

Police ICT Company

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the minimum number is of Police and Crime Commissioners that her Department has calculated as being needed to sign up to (a) make the Police ICT Company operationally viable and (b) Police ICT Company to achieve savings on current police ICT spend.

Damian Green: There is no definitive number of Police and Crime Commissioners required to make the company viable. However, forces will need to become members in order to receive the full benefits the Company is being developed to deliver.

Police ICT Company

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much (a) staff costs, (b) infrastructure costs, (c) training costs, (d) consultant costs and (e) any other costs her Department incurred to April 2013 in taking on police ICT functions in the interim ICT company before the Police ICT Company is operational.

Damian Green: Costs for the transition of police ICT functions into the Home Office were covered by the re-allocation of existing National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) budgets into the department in 2012-13 and included £358,000 additional infrastructure costs met from within existing budgets.

Police ICT Company

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by which date the Board of the Police ICT Company is scheduled to sign off the Police ICT Company business plan; and what discussions she has had with the Police ICT Company Board about the date at which that Company will become fully operational.

Damian Green: The board of directors is scheduled to review the business plan in the summer of 2013 and will consider phasing for the commencement of operations at that point.

Police ICT Company

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which consultants have been used in the process of developing the Police ICT Company to April 2013; and at what cost.

Damian Green: As at April 2013 commercial and legal advice, supporting products and services to develop Police ICT Company has been provided to the Home Office by legal advisers Addleshaw Goddard, Morrison and Foerster, Willis, and commercial advisers PA Consulting, Gartner, PWC and individuals including Jonathan Swift QC. The costs of those services to April 2013 are £1.8 million since 2011.

Police: Finance

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the response by the Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice to the debate in Westminster Hall on Police (Surrey) of 3 July 2012, Official Report, columns 240-2WH, what conclusions she has reached on changing or removing the damping mechanism for police force funding.

Damian Green: I have decided to apply damping so that every police force area will face the same percentage reduction in core central Government funding in 2013-14 and 2014-15. In making this decision, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), and I have carefully considered responses to the June 2012 informal consultation on damping.
	Many of the responses to this informal consultation stressed the need to undertake a full review of the Police Allocation Formula before changing damping policy given that damping and the formula are inextricably linked. That is why we have decided to continue current damping arrangements and why the Secretary of State will be commissioning a fundamental review of the formula in due course.

Rape: Southwark

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the report of the Independent Police Complaints Commission on Southwark Sapphire Unit's local practices for the reporting and investigation of sexual offences, how many women came forward to the police between July 2008 and September 2009 to report a rape but whose claim was subsequently not recorded by the police.

Damian Green: The Home Office does not centrally collect information on how many people have come forward to the police to report a crime. When the police receive a report or allegation of a crime, they will follow the guidance in the Home Office Counting Rules in deciding whether to record a crime. The police notify the Home Office on how many crimes they have recorded and these data form the basis of police recorded crime statistics published by the Office for National Statistics.
	The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has welcomed the findings of the Independent Police Complaints Commission report and accepts that mistakes were made and that the way in which victims were treated was wholly unacceptable. The MPS has already acted to improve its focus on victim care and investigation standards.

Sexual Offences: Southwark

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many sexual offences committed in the London Borough of Southwark in (a) 2007, (b) 2008, (c) 2009, (d) 2010, (e) 2011 and (f) 2012 resulted in convictions.

Jeremy Browne: It is not possible to link crimes recorded by the police from the data that the Home Office holds with the convictions data that the Ministry of Justice holds.
	Additionally, the data that the Ministry of Justice holds does not include the location of the offence and it is therefore not possible to provide the number of convictions for sexual offences which took place within the London Borough of Southwark.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Recall of Parliament

John Healey: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, what the total cost to the House of Commons Service was of recalling Parliament on 10 April 2013.

John Thurso: The cost to the House of Commons Service of recalling Parliament for a day is marginal as most operating costs are fixed for the year as a whole and are unaffected by the number and distribution of sitting days. Final costs will not be known until all relevant claims have been agreed, but from previous experience the additional costs are expected to be around £20,000.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Combined Heat and Power

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with representatives of the Combined Heat and Power (CHP) sector regarding changes in investor confidence in the light of the consultation on retrospectively changing Renewable Obligation Certificate banding for CHP plants.

Gregory Barker: The recently closed consultation on revisions to the CHP Quality Assurance programme proposed to amend the requirements for a scheme to qualify as ‘Good Quality CHP’. The electrical efficiencies of some renewable powerplant are substantially higher than those assumed when the current requirements were developed. As a result some powerplant are able to qualify as Good Quality CHP, and hence receive the CHP uplift available through the renewables obligation, despite supplying only minimal quantities of heat. The proposed amended requirements would ensure that only plant which supply a significant quantity of heat fully qualify as Good Quality CHP, hence ensuring that the additional support available for CHP delivers value for money. The consultation does not have any impact on ROC banding for plant which meet the definition of Good Quality CHP.
	Initial responses from stakeholders expressed concerns at the lack of “grandfathering” of current requirements for existing plants. For this reason, DECC issued supplementary consultation questions on 21 January seeking stakeholders views on an alternative approach, which would involve grandfathering of the current requirements for some existing plant. I have had no discussions with representatives from the combined heat and power sector on this issue. The Department has received a small amount of correspondence on the subject and officials have met a number of CHP stakeholders to discuss it. In addition, 47 stakeholders have provided their views via formal responses to the consultation. Officials are currently analysing these responses.

Energy: Competition

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 10 September 2012, Official Report, column 62W, on energy, what estimate his Department has made of the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index for (a) the domestic electricity market and (b) the domestic gas market.

Michael Fallon: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	DECC publish estimates of Herfindahl-Hirschman Indices for the domestic electricity and gas markets in charts 7.4 and 7.8 respectively of UK Energy Sector Indicators, produced in October each year and available on the DECC website:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-energy-sector-indicators-2012
	Latest data for 2011 show the index for electricity was 1,632 in 2011, with the index for gas at 2,224.

EU Emissions Trading Scheme

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what volume of clean development mechanism permits remain outstanding to UK companies under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme; and what volume of such permits are currently outstanding in the EU.

Gregory Barker: Eligible certified emissions reductions (CERs) and emissions reduction units (ERUs) can be used for compliance in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), subject to a limit. This limit is cumulative across Phase II (2008-12) and Phase III (2013-20) of the EU ETS and will be defined in a forthcoming European Commission regulation on international credit entitlement. Therefore it is not possible at this stage to provide figures on the volume of outstanding clean development mechanism or joint implementation units that can be surrendered in the EU ETS.
	Information is available on the number of units surrendered so far. In the years 2008 to 2011, 30,271,290 CERs and 3,234,025 ERUs were surrendered for compliance purposes by UK EU ETS operators, with 456,104,840 CERs and 99,216,180 ERUs surrendered by all ETS operators across the EU(1). Figures for 2012 will be available shortly after the compliance deadline of 30 April.
	(1) European Commission published EU ETS cumulative compliance data 2008 to 2011:
	http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/ets/registry/documentation_en.htm

Hinkley Point C Power Station

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether the Government notified (a) the Republic of Ireland, (b) Austria and (c) other European states of the proposal for a new nuclear power facility at Hinkley Point for which he granted planning permission on 19 March 2013; when and by what means any such notification occurred; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The Planning Inspectorate, on behalf of the Secretary of State, concluded that the proposed development is not likely to have a significant impact on the environment of another European state(1). Notwithstanding this, any interested state had the opportunity to make representations on the application for development consent. The Austrian Government chose to do so.
	(1) Available at:
	http://infrastructure.planningportal.gov.uk/wp-content/ipc/uploads/projects/EN010001/2.%20Post-Submission/EIA/Regulation%2024/120522_EN010001_%20 Hinkley_Transboundary% 20Screening.doc.pdf

Insulation: Prices

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of recent trends in the retail price of loft insulation; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The Department has not made an assessment of the retail price of loft insulation. The price of loft insulation is determined by the market.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what criteria are used in (a) his Department and (b) each public body for which he is responsible to determine which officials receive bonus payments.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change currently awards non-consolidated end of year performance awards and in year special awards.
	The Department uses non-consolidated performance related payments to help drive high performance as they:
	encourage continuous high attainment because the payments are dependent upon continuing strong performance
	prevent a permanent rise in salary and an increase in pension on the basis of one off performances while still allowing good performance to be rewarded
	have no long term costs, in particular it does not increase future pension payments
	focus the work of employees more directly on the priority goals of the organisation
	motivate employees by linking an element of compensation to the achievement of objectives rather than offering payment for time served
	target money at those who make the biggest contribution.
	The criteria used for the award of end of year non-consolidated performance awards are determined each year in the annual pay settlement and relate to the end year appraisal ratings of staff in the previous performance year which are independently moderated.
	Non-consolidated in-year special awards are used to reward staff for exceptional pieces of work or taking on additional responsibilities during the performance year.
	The Coal Authority use criteria linked directly to the performance of the public body, teams and the individual so as to retain and attract staff.
	The Civil Nuclear Constabulary and the Civil Nuclear Police Authority use different criteria both performance related for civilian and constabulary staff. Details of these criteria will be placed in the House Library.
	The Committee on Climate Change pay non-consolidated performance awards that relate to the end year appraisal ratings of staff for the performance year. These ratings are independently moderated. Non-consolidated in-year special awards are used to reward staff for exceptional pieces of work during the performance year.
	The contract of employment for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority staff includes a commitment to permit staff to partake in a performance related pay scheme, which is based on a combination of corporate targets (50%) and individual performance (50%).
	Both corporate and personal targets are set and aligned with actions to deliver the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's mission. A rigorous review of the achievement of the corporate targets are audited by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's sponsoring department—Department of Energy and Climate Change.

TREASURY

Child Care Vouchers: Scotland

Pamela Nash: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether the tax-free childcare measures announced in the 2013 Budget will be accessible to people living in Scotland;
	(2)  whether the childcare voucher scheme will be accessible to people living in Scotland;
	(3)  whether the tax-free childcare measures announced in Budget 2013 will be accessible to people living in Scotland.

Sajid Javid: On 20 March 2013 the Government announced that they would provide support to working families through the creation of a new Tax-Free Childcare Scheme.
	For every 80p eligible families pay in, the Government will put in 20p up to the annual limit on costs for each child. Parents will be able to use the vouchers for any Ofsted regulated child care in England and the equivalent bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Corporation Tax

William McCrea: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the reasons are for time taken in devolving corporation tax to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

David Gauke: The Government recognise that many people are keen to see a decision on the devolution of Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland made quickly. However, the issues involved are complex and a decision cannot be rushed.
	The Prime Minister has set out a decision on Corporation Tax that will be made in the autumn of 2014.

Home Care Services: Pay

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints his Department has received in the last 12 months about non-compliance with the minimum wage and health care companies not paying for travel between care appointments.

David Gauke: HMRC recognises that non-payment of travelling time in the care sector can occur. However, it does not specifically record data using that descriptor. For the financial year 2012-13, HMRC received 19 complaints about possible non-compliance with minimum wage from workers in the domiciliary care sector.

Income Tax: Shipley

Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the Financial Statement of 20 March 2013, Official Report, column 424 and the Budget 2013 Red Book, how many people in Shipley constituency were paying top rate income tax in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and how many such people will be paying that top rate in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

David Gauke: Data on the number of additional rate tax payers at parliamentary constituency levels are not published.
	Population projections at constituency level would not be reliable or statistically robust.

Minimum Wage: Scotland

Pamela Nash: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many employers in (a) Scotland and (b) Airdrie and Shotts constituency received a warning for non-payment of the minimum wage in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

David Gauke: HMRC does not maintain statistics by reference to constituency. The minimum wage compliance team in Scotland issued a Notice of Underpayment to 85 employers in the period from 1 March 2012 to 28 February 2013.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Pamela Nash: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether an individual (a) living in England seeking to purchase a property in Scotland and (b) living in Scotland seeking to purchase a property in England can apply to the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme;
	(2)  if the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme will be available to people living in Scotland.

Sajid Javid: Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee will be available on homes across the UK, including in Scotland.

Non-Domestic Rates: Third Sector

Tim Farron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give consideration to changing the rules about business rate discounts for charitable and non-profit organisations to offer a 100 per cent discount through Government funding in order to prevent local councils being forced to reject applications for discretionary rates due to council budget restraints.

David Gauke: The Government have no plans to change the rules about business rates reliefs for charitable and non-profit organisations to provide for a mandatory 100% discount, though all aspects of the tax system are kept under review.

Revenue and Customs: Northern Ireland

William McCrea: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people worked in customer services at HM Revenue and Customs in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years.

David Gauke: The majority of HMRC staff in Northern Ireland (circa 1,700 full time equivalents) have an element of customer service within their job role. A fuller response to this question would be possible only at disproportionate cost.

Revenue and Customs: Southend On Sea

James Duddridge: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) full-time, (b) part-time and (c) full-time equivalent staff are employed by HM Revenue and Customs in Southend-on-Sea.

David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs employs a total of 1,486 staff in Southend-on-Sea. The breakdown of full-time, part-time and full-time equivalent staff is set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Headcount FTE 
			 Full-time 1,011 1,011 
			 Part-time 475 300.67 
			 Total 1,486 1,311.67

Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to improve the efficacy of HM Revenue and Customs' telephone services following the closure of enquiry centres.

David Gauke: Over the last five months HMRC has answered on average over 90% of all calls and plans to invest further in its Contact Centres in 2013-14 to maintain this performance.
	HMRC has also introduced a more flexible resourcing model, to better manage busy periods by deploying extra resource to deal with short-term increases in demand. In early summer 2013, HMRC is introducing speech recognition technology to its Helplines, allowing customers to access the correct service by what they say rather than using key pad options.
	Between 3 June and 31 October 2013, HMRC is piloting a new service in the north-east of England for customers who need extra help. As part of that pilot, the inquiry centres in the north east will close on 3 June 2013. The pilot will be used to gather more information and ensure that the service given is as good as it can be. A decision on whether or not to close the remaining inquiry centres and roll out the new service nationwide will be made in January 2014.

Sterling: Devaluation

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the devaluation of sterling against the dollar and the euro since May 2010.

Sajid Javid: The Government's macroeconomic framework includes an independent Monetary Policy Committee responsible for monetary policy that seeks to deliver price stability through an inflation target of 2% as measured by the 12-month increase in the consumer prices index.
	Under this framework sterling is determined by market forces. A wide variety of factors affect the value of any exchange rate. These include economic fundamentals, the direction in which interest rates are expected to move in the future, and general sentiment in markets.

Tax Allowances

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the effect on revenue to the Exchequer of introducing a flat rate of income tax and national insurance at 25 per cent with a personal allowance of £13,000.

David Gauke: Reliable estimates of changes of this scale require detailed analysis of complex, uncertain, behavioural effects. These estimates are not available.

VAT: Scotland

Pamela Nash: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many value added tax registrations there were in each (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) ward in Scotland in each deprivation decile in each year since 2007.

David Gauke: No estimate is available for the number of VAT registrations in each parliamentary constituency or electoral ward in Scotland for each of the deprivation deciles since 2007.
	The Office for National Statistics series “UK Business: Activity, Size and Location”, gives the number of VAT registered businesses up to and including 2007. In 2008, this was combined to give the total number of businesses registered for either VAT and/or PAYE for each parliamentary constituency in Scotland. This is given in the following table.
	Changes between the years reflect the net number of new VAT and/or PAYE registrations and de-registrations.
	
		
			 Number of enterprises at the end of March in each year parliamentary constituency 
			  VAT-based enterprises VAT and/or PAYE based enterprises 
			  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Aberdeen North 1,560 1,975 2,005 1,935 1,985 2,195 
			 Aberdeen South 3,020 3,900 4,005 4,060 4,245 4,535 
			 Airdrie and Shotts 1,250 1,525 1,525 1,515 1,480 1,550 
			 Angus 2,285 2,770 2,755 2,730 2,750 2,830 
			 Argyll and Bute 3,210 3,770 3,735 3,635 3,615 3,695 
			 Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock 2,065 2,485 2,470 2,395 2,410 2,440 
			 Banff and Buchan 3,480 4,165 4,200 4,195 4,240 4,370 
			 Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk 3,565 4,000 3,925 3,855 3,860 3,925 
			 Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross 2,365 2,765 2,815 2,785 2,810 2,960 
			 Central Ayrshire 1,575 1,880 1,920 1,885 1,850 1,935 
			 Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill 1,415 1,775 1,760 1,685 1,705 1,775 
			 Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East 1,155 1,410 1,445 1,440 1,455 1,535 
			 Dumfries and Galloway 3,420 3,915 3,865 3,790 3,750 3,775 
			 Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale 3,220 3,645 3,645 3,570 3,545 3,615 
			 Dundee East 1,195 1,555 1,530 1,540 1,520 1,585 
			 Dundee West 1,455 1,825 1,805 1,780 1,755 1,800 
			 Dunfermline and West Fife 1,525 1,930 1,975 1,945 1,950 2,075 
			 East Dunbartonshire 1,560 1,990 2,030 2.020 2,015 2,125 
			 East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow 1,915 2,320 2,360 2,300 2,285 2,335 
			 East Lothian 2,070 2,475 2,510 2,515 2,505 2,630 
			 East Renfrewshire 1,610 2,035 2,040 2,065 2,060 2,175 
		
	
	
		
			 Edinburgh East 1,970 2,450 2,455 2,410 2,400 2,530 
			 Edinburgh North and Leith 4,370 5,670 5,565 5,440 5,440 5,765 
			 Edinburgh South 1,390 1,800 1,815 1,810 1,845 1,965 
			 Edinburgh South West 1,640 2,145 2,205 2,190 2,220 2,365 
			 Edinburgh West 1,570 2,075 2,070 2,090 2,180 2,280 
			 Falkirk 1,665 2,115 2,120 2,130 2,145 2,205 
			 Glasgow Central 5,060 6,130 6,105 6,155 6,065 6,275 
			 Glasgow East 1,005 1,255 1,245 1,295 1,295 1,395 
			 Glasgow North 1,275 1,750 1,770 1,715 1,730 1,800 
			 Glasgow North East 835 1,110 1,100 1,080 1,095 1,185 
			 Glasgow North West 865 1,195 1,205 1,190 1,205 1,280 
			 Glasgow South 1,140 1,460 1,500 1,480 1,480 1,585 
			 Glasgow South West 870 1,100 1,095 1,100 1,110 1,165 
			 Glenrothes 1,145 1,425 1,445 1,440 1,400 1,430 
			 Gordon 3,530 4,360 4,450 4,490 4,565 4.825 
			 Inverclyde 1,075 1,420 1,400 1,395 1,370 1,460 
			 Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey 2,780 3,395 3,425 3,410 3,375 3,460 
			 Kilmarnock and Loudoun 1,920 2,265 2,215 2,195 2,170 2,235 
			 Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath 1,465 1,890 1,900 1,920 1,910 1,990 
			 Lanark and Hamilton East 2,205 2,725 2,750 2,730 2,700 2,775 
			 Linlithgow and East Falkirk 1,915 2,390 2,375 2,355 2,320 2,425 
			 Livingston 1,755 2,185 2,175 2,135 2,115 2,200 
			 Midlothian 1,555 1,885 1,865 1,860 1,875 1,920 
			 Moray 2,380 2,855 2,875 2,865 2,835 2,895 
			 Motherwell and Wishaw 1,205 1,455 1,405 1,370 1,400 1,470 
			 Na h-Eileanan an lar 890 1,040 1,055 1,020 995 1,040 
			 North Ayrshire and Arran 1,715 2,100 2,095 2,025 1,970 2,050 
			 North East Fife 2,075 2,480 2,480 2,435 2,420 2,460 
			 Ochil and South Perthshire 2,645 3,175 3,180 3,110 3,095 3,175 
			 Orkney and Shetland 2,490 2,695 2,625 2,650 2,640 2,705 
			 Paisley and Renfrewshire North 1,605 2,060 2,095 2,095 2,100 2,160 
			 Paisley and Renfrewshire South 1,355 1,710 1,695 1,720 1,690 1,740 
			 Perth and North Perthshire 2,825 3,320 3,305 3,295 3,240 3,340 
			 Ross, Skye and Lochaber 2,945 3,435 3,435 3,400 3,395 3,485 
			 Rutherglen and Hamilton West 1,370 1,675 1,660 1,685 1,645 1,745 
			 Stirling 2,815 3,445 3,445 3,380 3,415 3,490 
			 West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine 3,485 4,315 4,425 4,465 4,580 4,835 
			 West Dunbartonshire 1,100 1,435 1,425 1,415 1,415 1,490 
			 Total 118,820 145,500 145,770 144,585 144,635 150,455

DEFENCE

Armed Forces: Pay

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 25 March 2013, Official Report, column 929W, on Armed Forces: pay, if he will provide the information by rank as originally asked.

Mark Francois: A broad estimate of the impact on specific ranks is set out in the following table. An accurate estimate could be made only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 £ million 
			  Medical officer/Dental officer and 2*+ (senior salaries review body) Officers up to 1*(AFPRB Report) Other ranks (AFPRB Report) 
			 Estimated total cost 1 9 26 
			 Rank —  — 
			 Brigadier — 0.2 — 
			 Colonel — 0.6 — 
			 Lt Colonel — 1.7 — 
			 Major — 3.0 — 
			 Captain — 2.8 — 
			 Lt and below — 0.7 — 
			 Warrant Officer — — 2.6 
			 Staff Sergeant — — 2.9 
		
	
	
		
			 Sergeant — — 4.4 
			 Corporal — — 3.1 
			 Lance Corporal — — 6.0 
			 Private — — 7.0

Defence Suppliers Forum

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Mid Worcestershire (Peter Luff) of 18 March 2013, Official Report, column 437W, on the Defence Suppliers Forum, which members of the Defence Suppliers Forum have received more than one invitation to attend in the last 12 months; and how many meetings of the Forum there have been in that period.

Philip Dunne: The Defence Suppliers Forum met on three occasions in the last 12 months. Representatives of the following organisations have attended on more than one occasion:
	Babcock International Group
	BAE Systems
	EADS UK
	Finmeccanica UK
	General Dynamics UK
	Hewlett-Packard UK
	Lockheed Martin UK
	QinetiQ
	Rolls-Royce
	Serco UK
	Thales UK.
	In addition, a representative from Aspire Defence has attended all three meetings in support of a particular agenda item.
	Two representatives from the Defence Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Forum are invited to each DSF on a rotational basis. However, no SME Forum member have been invited to attend more than one DSF during the period requested.

Germany

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his oral statement of 5 March 2013, Official Report, columns 845-8, on Army basing plan, what recent assessment he has made of the future of Normandy Barracks in Sennelager, Germany; and what assessment he has made of its cost implications to the UK.

Mark Francois: As announced by the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), on 5 March 2013, Official Report, column 845, Normandy Barracks in Sennelager is not expected to be handed back to the German authorities before 2017.
	Negotiations are still ongoing for the final, one off settlement for the release of accommodation and estate to the German authorities.

Germany

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the statement of 5 March 2013, Official Report, columns 845-8, on Army basing plan, what (a) redundancy package and (b) employment re-training programmes he plans to offer to ex-service and civilian personnel who are under contract to his Department in Germany.

Mark Francois: There are a number of measures in place to support those personnel affected by the drawdown of troops in Germany, depending on the terms and conditions and circumstances of those involved.
	The Army employs some 3,400 personnel through the local labour market in Germany. These staff will be managed in accordance with local procedures in consultation with the German authorities. This includes either a lump-sum redundancy pay-out, or ‘bridging payments’ if their new job pays less, and re-training packages made available under the auspices of the Federal Employment Agency.
	All UK based civil servants returning to the UK as part of the drawdown will be managed in accordance with departmental procedures which include providing assistance in finding alternative employment through the Department's redeployment pool for any that are declared surplus.

Germany

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the statement of 5 March 2013, Official Report, columns 845-8, on Army basing plan, what financial assistance he plans to offer to ex-service and civilian personnel based in Germany who are under contract to his Department for the purpose of obtaining housing in the UK.

Mark Francois: There are no plans to offer financial assistance to obtain housing in the UK beyond the usual reimbursement for the cost of relocation.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much funding has been allocated within the Joint Equipment Plan for the procurement of 48 Joint Strike Fighters (B).

Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the National Audit Office Major Projects Report Volume II, published on 10 January 2013, which includes details of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Programme. To protect the Ministry of Defence's commercial position, budgeted costs for procurement are not published in advance of main investment decision points, which for the JSF programme will not be before the next Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2015.

Military Aid: Helicopters

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions there has been a request for military aid to the civil authorities that involved a helicopter from (a) RAF Lossiemouth and (b) HMS Gannet in each of the last five years; and what the nature was of each such request.

Andrew Robathan: The majority of requests have been for military Search and Rescue (SAR). Military Search and Rescue (SAR) statistics are published on annual and quarterly basis by the Defence Analytical Services and Advice (DASA) organisation. Copies of the 2012 figures (published on 31 January 2013), which also includes yearly figures from 2003, are available in the Library of the House.
	There were also two call outs which were not for Search and Rescue:
	
		
			 Date Requesting organisation RAF Lossiemouth/HMS Gannet Summary 
			 17 April 2009 Strathclyde Police HMS Gannet Five police officers were transported from HMS Gannet to the Isle of Cumbrae. 
			 22 March 2013 Belfast Coastguard HMS Gannet Assistance with moving emergency services personnel, provisions and persons cut off by snow on Arran (Blackwaterfoot).

Military Bases: Scotland

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the (a) sustainability appraisal for the development of the estate at RAF Lossiemouth, (b) sustainability appraisal for the delivery of an Adaptable Force Brigade Scotland, (c) updated sustainability appraisal for the Base Optimisation Programme in Scotland and (d) updated sustainable development action plan for the overarching Base Optimisation Programme.

Andrew Robathan: I am withholding the information requested as it relates to the formulation of Government policy.

Type 26 Frigates

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much funding has been allocated within the joint equipment plan to procure the 13 Type 26 frigates.

Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the National Audit Office Major Projects Report Volume II, published on 10 January 2013, which includes details of the Type 26 Programme. To protect the Ministry of Defence's commercial position, budgeted costs for procurement are not published in advance of the main investment decision point, which for Type 26 is expected in the middle of the decade.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Berkeley Group

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what discussions his Department has had with (a) the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), (b) Berkeley Homes and (c) PRUPIM over the definition of affordable homes in the sale by Berkeley Group Holdings to PRUPIM of a residential portfolio which was partially funded by the HCA;
	(2)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the sale by Berkeley Group Holdings to PRUPIM of a residential portfolio partially funded by the Homes and Communities Agency represents best value;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the effect the sale by Berkeley Group Holdings to PRUPIM of a £105.4 million residential portfolio made up of 534 rental properties partially funded by the Homes and Communities Agency will have on the total amount of affordable housing provided by the Kidbrooke regeneration scheme.

Mark Prisk: There were no affordable housing units in this residential portfolio sale by Berkeley Group holdings to PRUPIM. All 534 properties involved in the sale were private rented units. There is thus no impact on the amount of affordable housing in the Kidbrooke regeneration scheme. An independent valuation assessment confirmed that the sale of the portfolio was at market value and that therefore the Homes and Communities Agency's share of the return in respect of its Kickstart investment represented value for money to the public purse.

Council Tax

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to his Department's consultation on technical reforms of council tax, when he expects to publish the results of the Government's further review of how annexes for family homes can be supported.

Brandon Lewis: The Government are undertaking a broad review of how annexes for family homes can be supported and will set out its plans in due course.

Councillors

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance is given to councillors who are also council taxpayers to declare an interest when setting the budget.

Brandon Lewis: I have been clear that any payment of, or liability to pay, council tax does not create a disclosable pecuniary interest as defined in the national rules. My Department has updated its plain English guide “Openness and transparency on personal interests: a guide for councillors” to cover this issue.
	I have placed a copy of the guide in the Library of the House and it is available for on my Department's website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/153759/Openness_and_transparency_on_personal_interest_-_a_guide_for_councillors.pdf

Enterprise Zones

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 20 March 2013, Official Report, columns 681-2W, on enterprise zones, if he will publish the findings from his Department's monitoring of the outputs and economic outcomes of the enterprise zones created since May 2010.

Mark Prisk: Enterprise Zones are a 25 year land and property programme set up to be delivered locally by Local economic Partnerships. Given that the Programme is only a year in, it is premature to assess their effectiveness to date. However, from April to December 2012 Zones have reported £160 million private investment secured and over 1,700 jobs created since going live.
	March saw the largest number of investments in the Programme since it went live last April. Key announcements include Jaguar Land Rovers additional £500 million investment on the i54 site (Black Country), creating almost 1,400 new jobs; E.ON committing to 50 new jobs at Grimsby (Humber); a £15 million new office development at Milton Park (Science Vale UK, Oxfordshire, with the potential to create 500 jobs; and a £35 million office development at Bristol Temple Quarter, the biggest speculative development project in the city for four years.

Fire Services: Females

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the effect on the number of female firefighters if the normal pension age for female firefighters is increased to 60.

Brandon Lewis: Dr Tony Williams, Medical Director of Working Fit, was commissioned to review the Normal Pension Age for firefighters. This report was provided to members of the Firefighters' Pension Committee, for discussion, at its last meeting on 17 January 2013. I am currently considering the Government's response to this report, and this will be published on the Department's website shortly.
	Some 43% of regular female firefighter pension scheme members are in the New Firefighters' Pension Scheme 2006, which already has a Normal Pension Age of 60.

Fire Services: Older Workers

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidelines his Department issues on the proportion of fire fighters of age 60 and above able to be employed on normal duties before public safety is compromised.

Brandon Lewis: The Department has not issued any such guidelines. It is for individual fire and rescue authorities to determine how to manage their workforce to ensure public safety is not compromised.

Housing: Sales

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what consideration his Department has given to reforming the house purchase system; and what assessment he has made of the process in Scotland.

Mark Prisk: We have no current plans to change the current home buying and selling system in England and Wales, where properties are sold “subject to contract”.
	Under the Scottish system, a legally binding conditional contract is entered into as soon as terms have been accepted, from which neither side can withdraw without legal consequences. While this may have its advantages, housing markets are generally much more active in England and Wales, where chains are more common and can be long. Consequently buyers and sellers using the Scottish system in England and Wales could find themselves bound to a contract before selling their existing home and buying a new one, with expensive implications such as bridging finance and the need to find temporary accommodation.
	Sellers in England and Wales are free to choose from a range of options that can be used by those seeking more commitment and certainty that their transaction will be completed. These include ‘lock-out' agreements, ‘option to purchase', ‘conditional contracts' or ‘costs guarantee'. There is nothing to stop buyers and sellers agreeing to any of these arrangements on a voluntary basis.
	This Government have cut the cost of moving home by abolishing the requirement to commission a home information pack. The red tape involved increased the cost of selling a home, deterring sellers from putting their homes on the market, and the packs were not trusted by buyers, so duplicating costs. We believe that the similar seller packs recently introduced in Scotland are another example of a more complex system.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether under-occupancy assessments will be made when considering applications for assistance under the proposed (a) Help to Buy and (b) Mortgage Guarantee scheme.

Mark Prisk: The Government will require (a) Purchasers under the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme to be assessed against affordability criteria by Help to Buy Agents and (b) will provide further details on Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee later this year.
	Existing social tenants are a priority group when applications are assessed as it helps free up a social housing unit.

Non-domestic Rates: Wi-fi

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the Government's policy is on the application of business rates to wireless access points.

Brandon Lewis: The assessment of rateable values for business rates is a matter for the Valuation Office Agency and it is not the role of Ministers to intervene in those decisions. The Valuation Office Agency and the Broadband Stakeholder's Group will host a meeting with the telecoms industry later in April to discuss the rating of wireless broadband network infrastructure.

WALES

Computers

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) desktop computers, (b) laptop computers and (c) tablet devices his Department has purchased in the last two years.

Stephen Crabb: The Wales Office has not purchased any desktops and laptops during the last two years, but has purchased one tablet device.

Public Expenditure

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of (a) the criteria by which the future financial settlement and constitutional arrangements for Wales should be determined and (b) the desirability or otherwise of replacing the funding arrangement determined by the Barnett Formula by a needs-based allocation of government finances.

David Jones: The Government established the Commission on Devolution in Wales in October 2011 to review the present financial and constitutional arrangements in Wales. The Commission reported on the first part of its remit, relating to the financial accountability of the National Assembly for Wales, in November 2012, and the Government is currently considering the recommendations made in that report. The Commission is expected to report on the second part of its remit, in relation to the constitutional arrangements for Wales, in the spring of 2014.
	In addition, the UK Government and the Welsh Government published a joint statement in October 2012 outlining new commitments to review relative levels of funding in England and Wales at each spending review. This statement followed discussions between the two Governments on funding reform in Wales. These discussions did not, however, cover fundamental reform of the Barnett Formula. Our Programme for Government made clear that, while we recognise the concerns that exist around the operation of the Barnett Formula, our priority is, and remains, to stabilise the public finances.

Visits Abroad

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many overseas visits have been made by Ministers of his Department to support trade and investment in each year since 2010.

David Jones: Details of overseas travel by Wales Office Ministers are published in our quarterly transparency returns. All visits undertaken have been in support of UK inward investment.

Visits Abroad

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what his Department's budget was for overseas travel for officials and Ministers in 2012-13.

Stephen Crabb: The Wales Office did not set a budget for overseas travel in 2012-13; all overseas travel costs was met from the existing travel budget.

HEALTH

Alexandra Hospital Redditch

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if his Department will give the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust permission to allow the Alexandra Hospital to discuss with University Hospitals Birmingham a takeover of the hospital.

Daniel Poulter: The trust does not require permission from the Department of to discuss this matter with other national health service bodies. The provision of local health services is a matter for the local NHS.
	NHS commissioners in Worcestershire are currently working with the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust to review the future provision of services, subject to formal public consultation planned for this summer.

Cardiovascular System: North West

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of whether the proposed new arrangements for vascular services in Lancashire and Cumbria would breach the 60 minute distance target; what rights patients have to enforce that target; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: The Department has made no assessment of the effect of implementation of the vascular services review in Lancashire and Cumbria.
	Decisions about local NHS services are a matter for the local national health service. Vascular services are being reviewed locally across England in response to robust evidence, which shows that better patient outcomes are achieved when complex procedures, such as vascular surgery, are provided by units which treat higher volumes of patients.
	On 19 February 2013, Cumbria County Council Health Scrutiny Committee referred proposals for changes to vascular services in Cumbria and Lancashire to the Secretary of State for Health. Initial advice from the Independent Reconfiguration Panel has been requested no later than 19 April 2013.

Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on research into the causes and prevention of congenital diaphragmatic hernia in each of the last five years.

Daniel Poulter: In the last five years, there has been no expenditure by the Department on specific research into the causes and prevention of congenital diaphragmatic hernia.
	The Department's National Institute for Health Research welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including congenital diaphragmatic hernia. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the scientific quality of the proposals made.

Consultants

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on external consultancy services in each year since 2005, broken down by consultancy firm.

Daniel Poulter: Spend by individual contractor firms between 2005 to 2008 is not available given departmental reporting systems did not capture individual contractor details at that time.
	However, departmental spending on management consultancy for years 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 is available showing £133 million, £205 million and £132 million respectively.
	In July 2008, the Department implemented a new business management system which collects enhanced detail on the categorisation, purpose and value of orders. This has now given the Department the scope to be more specific about the nature of each of the consultancy commissions.
	Information on spend by financial year from 2008-09 to 2011-12 broken down by consultancy firm has been placed in the Library.
	2012-13 consultancy information will not be available until the Department's summarised annual accounts are published later in 2013.

Consultants

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list all consultancy companies employed by his Department between 2003 and 2012; and what the (a) year and (b) period of engagement was in each case.

Daniel Poulter: Consultancy information for the years 2003 to 2008 is not available centrally as previous Departmental reporting systems did not capture individual contractor details.
	In July 2008, the Department implemented a new business management system (BMS) which collects enhanced detail oh the categorisation, purpose and value of orders. This has now given the Department the scope to be more specific about the nature of each of the consultancy commissions. However, information on the period of engagement for each case is not held on BMS.
	All the consultancy companies employed by the Department by financial years 2008-09 to 2011-12 are set out in the table which has been placed in the Library.
	2012-13 consultancy information will not be available until the Department's summarised annual accounts are published later in 2013.

Heart Diseases: Children

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints the Care Quality Commission and its predecessor body have received concerning children's heart surgery at (a) Birmingham Children's Hospital, (b) Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, (c) Alder Hey Children's Hospital, (d) Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospital, (e) Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals, (f) Leeds Teaching Hospitals, (g) University Hospitals Bristol, (h) Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals, (i) Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals, (j) Southampton University Hospitals and (k) University Hospitals Leicester NHS Foundation Trust in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) does not have the responsibility for investigating specific complaints about providers. Under the NHS Complaints Procedure, formal complaints are raised with the service provider in the first instance. The CQC's predecessor, the Healthcare Commission, did have responsibility for second stage complaints, once local resolution had been unsuccessful. This responsibility ceased on 1 April 2009.
	When the CQC receives information of concern from people who use services, their relatives and members of the public, it uses the information to inform its inspection programme and the quality and risk profile of the service provider.
	The CQC has provided the following information:
	The following table shows the number of times information of concern has been received by the CQC in each of the last five years in relation to the listed organisations.
	
		
			 Number of enquiries, by fiscal year 
			 Information of concern 
			 Organisation name 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Total 
			 Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust 3 3 2 1 1 — 10 
			 Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust 1 4 1 1 2 — 9 
			 Birmingham Children's Hospital — — 4 1 — — 5 
			 University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust 1 7 3 1 — — 12 
			 University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust 2 1 2 4 4 1 14 
			 The Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust — 3 2 — 1 — 6 
			 Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust 1 6 1 — — — 8 
			 University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust 2 3 — — — — 5 
			 Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust — — — 2 3 — 5 
			 Harefield Hospital — — — 1 — — 1 
			 Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust — — — — 1 — 1 
			 Total 10 27 15 11 12 1 76 
			 Notes: 1. Data taken from the CQC database at 12 April 2013. 2.The table does not differentiate between the seriousness of the concern, or the CQCs findings in relation to the issues raised.

Herbal Medicine

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he has made on implementing a statutory register for herbalists; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The legislation around this policy is complex and there are a number of issues that have arisen which we need to work through. We appreciate that the delay in going out to consult on this matter is causing concern, but it is important that any new legislation is proportionate and fit for purpose.
	The Department intends to make an announcement on the progress of this policy shortly.

Horsemeat

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many horses have been slaughtered (a) in total and (b) by each abattoir in each of the last four months for which figures are available.

Anna Soubry: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) records the number of solipeds (a mammal having a single hoof on each foot, including horses, hinnies, mules and asses) slaughtered in the United Kingdom, the majority of which are horses. The number of solipeds slaughtered in total for the last four months for which figures are available are as follows:
	
		
			 Month Number of solipeds slaughtered in the United Kingdom 
			 December 2012 563 
			 January 2013 440 
			 February 2013 382 
			 March 2013 600 
		
	
	The number of horses slaughtered in each of the abattoirs in each of the last four months for which figures are available has not been provided as the release of this information is commercially sensitive.

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the cost was of inspections carried out by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how often his Department updates the good clinical practice regulations;
	(3)  how many incidents relating to safety issues have arisen in clinical trials in each of the last 10 years;
	(4)  what his policy is on the registration of individuals involved in clinical research with regard to EC Directive 2005/28/EC.

Norman Lamb: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is a Government trading fund and as such has to recover its costs by charging fees to those organisations or individuals that require its services. The costs of its inspections are therefore recovered from its customers. In each of the last five years the MHRA inspections income has been:
	
		
			  Inspections income (£000) 
			 2012-13 (1)8,644 
			 2011-12 (2)9,795 
			 2010-11 9,535 
			 2009-10 9,443 
			 2008-09 8,502 
			 (1) The figure for 2012-13 is provisional and subject to audit by the National Audit Office. (2) The figure for 2011-12 includes income from the European Medicines Agency for inspections undertaken on its behalf. Source: MHRA Annual Report and Accounts certified by the Comptroller and Auditor General except for 2012-13. 
		
	
	Suspected unexpected serious adverse reactions (SUSARs) are serious adverse events occurring in a clinical trial that are both unexpected and thought to be related to the medicine used in the trial. SUSARs are reported to the MHRA in an expedited manner and since 2005 have been recorded on a safety database. In each year since 2005 the MHRA has received the following numbers of SUSARs:
	
		
			  Non-fatal SUSARs 
			 2005 260 
			 2006 514 
			 2007 966 
			 2008 1,046 
			 2009 1,380 
			 2010 1,467 
			 2011 1,216 
			 2012 1,189 
		
	
	Directive 2005/28/EC does not require the registration of individuals involved in clinical research.
	The principles of good clinical practice are outlined in articles 2 to 5 in the EU Directive 2005/28/EC which have been transposed in The Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations as amended. In September 2012, the MHRA published the ‘Good Clinical Practice Guide’ covering the legislation, guidance and good practice that relates to the conduct of clinical trials of medicinal products for human use in the United Kingdom. This publication provides guidance on how the clinical trial regulations, and in particular GCP principles, should be implemented in practice.

NHS 111 Service

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what facilities exist to allow people to use the 111 service on behalf of other patients (a) in the same location and (b) from another location; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: NHS 111 call handlers are trained to ask if a caller is calling on behalf of someone else. For the most part NHS 111 calls are handled locally. However, every NHS 111 provider is able to handle inquiries from other parts of England.

Out of Area Treatment

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the income received by English acute trusts from Welsh health boards for the treatment of (a) all patients and (b) cancer patients in each of the last three years.

Daniel Poulter: The Department collects statutory accounting data for preparing consolidated annual accounts which includes income from operating activities and income from patients, but the returns do not separately show income from the Welsh Health Board or other countries.

Prescriptions

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS prescription exemption forms are in circulation which pre-date the Department for Work and Pensions changes and amendments to the benefits system and the name descriptor of benefits.

Norman Lamb: The introduction of universal credit by the Department for Work and Pensions will have relevance to the exemption section of the FP10 prescription form. Data are not held on the number of NHS FP10 prescription forms which are in circulation in England.
	Information on how the prescription form should be completed by those receiving universal credit during the early stages of implementation has been made available at:
	www.nhs.uk/uc-healthcosts

Public Expenditure

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the estimated underspend by his Department was in each year since 2007-08.

Daniel Poulter: The following table summarises the final underspends, for financial years 2007-08 to 2011-12, and estimated forecast underspends, for financial year 2012-13, against the resource, capital and total departmental expenditure limits (DEL) spending controls.
	
		
			 £ billion 
			  Revenue DEL (excluding depreciation) Capital DEL Total DEL 
			 2007-08 2.4 0.5 2.9 
			 2008-09 1.4 0.5 1.9 
			 2009-10 0.7 0.2 0.9 
			 2010-11 1.2 0.7 1.9 
			 2011-12 0.9 0.6 1.4 
			 2012-13 1.4 0.8 2.2

Social Services

David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has conducted research into the effects by region of the implementation of the cap on care costs and into the feasibility of introducing a regional cap.

Norman Lamb: The Government asked the Commission on Funding Care and Support to produce recommendations for social care funding reform. The Commission recommended a national cap after considering a variety of factors including the differential impacts by region. The Government have committed to implement in April 2016 a £72,000 cap on eligible care costs and extended state support for individuals in residential care with less than £118,000. These proposals will ensure that everyone is protected from excessive care costs regardless of where they live.
	The Government will be consulting upon the details of implementation of these reform over the summer including any differential impacts.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Bombings: Omagh

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what investigations are ongoing into the Omagh bombing in 1998.

Theresa Villiers: The Investigation into the Omagh bombing is an operational matter for the Chief Constable.

Bombings: Omagh

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many detectives have been in involved in any investigations into the Omagh bombing in 1998 in the last three years.

Theresa Villiers: The allocation of police resources is an operational matter for the Chief Constable.

Conflict Resolution

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps her Department has taken, jointly with the Department for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and the Department for International Development, to enable lessons from the post-conflict progress in Northern Ireland to be learned in other conflict regions across the world; and if she will make a statement.

Theresa Villiers: My Department receives requests from time to time to discuss the lessons the Northern Ireland peace process has to offer regions across the world that have suffered from terrorism, and Ministers and officials regularly meet delegations for this purpose.
	These requests sometimes originate from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office passing on requests from different countries or directly from high commissions, embassies and interested third party organisations.

Economic Growth

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when she last met the Northern Ireland Minister for Trade and Investment; and what initiatives she has recommended to assist growth in Northern Ireland.

Theresa Villiers: I last met the Northern Ireland Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment on 14 February 2013 when we discussed, among other issues, how to promote lending to businesses in Northern Ireland. The Prime Minister has proposed to the Northern Ireland Executive a wide-ranging package of measures to boost the private sector and we will be taking this work forward with the First and Deputy First Ministers, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment and others over the coming months.

G8

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions she has had on gaining additional finances to assist the policing of the G8 in Fermanagh.

Theresa Villiers: The Government are committed to ensuring that the PSNI has sufficient resources to deliver a safe and secure G8 summit and I have had a number of discussions on this matter.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Broadband

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment she has made of the economic impact of the new 4G mobile telephone networks.

Edward Vaizey: I have not made an assessment of the economic impact of the deployment of 4G mobile services in the UK. Ofcom, however, has estimated that the economic benefits will be £20 billion over 10 years. This figure is based on the report that Analysys Mason produced for my Department and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), which included a figure for consumer surplus for mobile telecoms:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/impact-of-radio-spectrum-on-the-uk-economy-and-factors-influencing-future-spectrum-demand

Dementia

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether her Department has a dementia strategy.

Hugh Robertson: While the Department does not have a dementia-specific strategy, it has a Carers' Network, which aims to support our staff whose lives are affected by dementia and other illnesses, offering support to staff with caring responsibilities and the opportunity to share their experiences. The Department also has an Employee Assistance Provider who staff can contact for confidential advice on all health and wellbeing matters.

Direct Selling

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether she has given consideration to consolidating the responsibility for dealing with nuisance calls entirely in either Ofcom or the Information Commissioner's Office.

Edward Vaizey: As the Minister for Culture, Communications and the Creative Industries, I have considered the possibility of allocating responsibility for nuisance calls, texts and e-mails, to either Ofcom or to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). However, this is unlikely to make much difference unless enforcement of the existing regulations is carried out effectively.
	The Government are working closely with both regulators to deliver significant improvements in terms of taking robust action where necessary. For example, the ICO issued its first monetary penalty of £90,000 to a company on 18 March 2013 and has also published on its website a list of the most complained about companies that make calls to Telephone Preference Service (TPS) registered consumers:
	http://www.ico.gov.uk/enforcement/action/calls.aspx
	If the companies fail to remedy their actions, then they could face further enforcement action and the ICO is also currently considering issuing penalties to two other companies for breaching the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) 2003.
	Improvements have been made to website pages of both organisations, including whom to contact when making a complaint. Also, Ofcom has in the last year issued monetary penalties totalling £810,000 and improved and clarified information that is provided to consumers online at:
	http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/tell-us/telecoms/privacy
	and their Consumer Guide signposts the correct place to make a complaint about a range of nuisance calls:
	http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/2012/10/tackling-nuisance-calls-and-messages

Football: Israel

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on England's participation in a European football tournament to be staged in Israel.

Hugh Robertson: I have had no recent discussions on this issue. This is a matter for the Israeli Football Association and UEFA. The UK Government and the Football Association support UEFA's decision to award the Under 21 Championships to Israel.

Football: Racial Discrimination

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had with the Football Association and the Professional Footballer's Association concerning racism in football; and if she will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Maria Miller), and I continue to meet with, and support the football authorities in their attempts to make progress in this area.
	We have welcomed the 92 point action plan from the football authorities, published in December, setting out a way forward to tackle discrimination within the game. While we have made significant progress in this area over the last two decades, recent incidents have shown a need for concerted action. We want to see this action plan implemented and the football authorities to show strong leadership on anti-discrimination, at both the professional and grassroots levels of the game.

Gun Sports

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been contributed to fund shooting sports in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland in the last five years.

Hugh Robertson: UK Sport invested £2,461,866 into elite Shooting for the London 2012 funding cycle (2009-13) and will invest £2,992,493 for the Rio 2016 cycle (2013-17). For Paralympic shooting, they invested £2,085,000 in the London 2012 funding cycle and will invest £3,333,806 for Rio 2016 cycle. In relation to target shooting Sport England invested, in England only, £750,000 during the London 2012 funding cycle and will invest £l million during the Rio 2016 cycle. The Department does not hold any information about the amounts invested by Sport Scotland, Sport Wales or Sport Northern Ireland, which are the responsibility of the respective Devolved Administration.

Museums and Galleries

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of overseas interest in oil paintings in UK public collections; and if she will urge the owners of those works to capitalise on such interest by putting them on public display if they have not recently been exhibited.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 15 April 2013
	The Government have not carried out such an assessment. It would not be appropriate for the Government to intervene in the display decisions of individual galleries, though we recognise that overseas visitors make up a significant proportion of those visiting galleries. Information on public display can be found at this web address:
	http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/

Overseas Aid

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which projects administered by her Department were Overseas Development Assistance attributable in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013.

Hugh Robertson: The only Overseas Development Assistance project that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) administers, is the funding to the London 2012 International Inspiration programme. This started in 2007, and has committed funding from DCMS and DFID (which DCMS administers) until March 2014.
	The figures relating to this are set out as follows:
	2010-11: £1,600,000 paid in 2010
	2011-12: £4,050,000 paid in 2011
	2012-13: £2,000,000 paid in 2012
	2013-14: £700,000 is due to be paid in 2013

Public Expenditure

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport with reference to paragraph 1.95 on page 38 of Budget 2013 Red Book, what further financial incentives will be introduced to ensure more efficient use and management of public sector spectrum holdings.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 25 April 2013
	The Treasury is working alongside Ofcom, DCMS and other Government Departments, who hold and use spectrum to consider appropriate further financial incentives to ensure efficient use and management of spectrum holdings. Further details will be announced in due course.

Public Lending Right

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport with reference to the Government response to the public consultation on the proposed transfer of the public lending right functions from the existing public body and the associated impact assessment, what assessment she has made of the potential benefits of basing the Head of Public Lending Right in Boston Spa rather than in Stockton-on-Tees.

Edward Vaizey: The Government response to the consultation on the proposed transfer of the Public Lending Right (PLR) functions set out that, after a transition period, a new Head of PLR would assume responsibility for the management of PLR, and is likely to be based in the British Library's site at Boston Spa in Yorkshire. It is for the British Library to consider operational matters relating to its activities, including the management of the PLR scheme and how PLR will be represented within the British Library management team.

Telephone Preference Service

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Telephone Preference Service in preventing unsolicited commercial telephone calls; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) provides protection to consumers from unsolicited marketing calls. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has enforcement responsibility for the TPS and can issue a monetary penalty of up to £500,000 for the most serious breaches.
	I am pressing for more action in this area, with the ICO, Office of Communications (Ofcom) and TPS working together to make improvements. The ICO has increased the resources devoted to enforcement of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) 2003 and on 18 March 2013 served its first monetary penalty of £90,000 to a company that was making unsolicited marketing calls. The ICO has also published on its website, a list of the most complained about companies that make calls to TPS registered consumers. If the companies fail to remedy their actions, then they could face further enforcement action and ICO is also currently considering issuing penalties to two other companies for breaching the PECR:
	http://www.ico.org.uk/enforcement/action/calls
	In addition, Ofcom has improved information available to consumers online at:
	http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/tell-us/telecoms/privacy
	which provides clearer advice on how to avoid unsolicited calls, texts and e-mails and a new Consumer Guide, signposts the correct place to make a complaint:
	http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/2012/10/tackling-nuisance-calls-and-messages
	I welcome this kind of robust action from the ICO and expect them to continue with similar measures against other companies as well.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Housing Benefit: Newcastle Upon Tyne

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the availability of single-bedroom accommodation in Newcastle upon Tyne in the (a) social housing and (b) private rented sector; and if he will estimate the number of people who will be rehoused from two to one-bedroom accommodation as a result of the reduction in housing benefit for under-occupancy.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available.
	This measure is not about forcing people to move. There are a number of options available to meet the shortfalls in housing benefit resulting from the removal of the spare room subsidy. For example, this could include moving into work, increasing working hours, taking in a lodger, getting help from family or friends or making up small shortfalls from savings without needing to move. It is for individual claimants to determine what the best approach is for them.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what plans he has to amend the definition of supported exempt accommodation to include housing association tenancies where care or support is provided or commissioned by a third party rather than by the landlord; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  when he plans to publish proposals for a localised system of support for housing costs for claimants living in supported exempt accommodation; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: As we announced in September 2012, we are exploring the feasibility of a localised scheme for supported exempt accommodation and will make announcements in due course. Until then, as we announced at the same time, we have no plans to change the existing definition set out in housing benefit and universal credit regulations but the Department is working closely with stakeholders to protect providers from unintended consequences if much of the existing provision does not meet the precise definition in the regulations.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 13 March 2013, Official Report, column 274W, on housing benefit: social rented sector, how much, on average (a) in Bristol and (b) nationally a tenant with two children of the same sex aged under 16 will have to pay for an additional bedroom if they do not have a bedroom large enough for two children to share.

Steve Webb: Information at local authority level is not available. Average shortfalls at regional level can be found in the impact assessment:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011-ia.pdf

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  if he will make an estimate of (a) the number of men born after 5 October 1951 but before 31 October 1953 who are now subject to the under-occupancy rule in relation to housing benefit provided for social housing, (b) when such men would become exempt from the scope of the rule in each grouping according to date of birth and (c) how many men are in each such category;
	(2)  if he will make an estimate of (a) the number of women born after 5 October 1951 but before 31 October 1953 who are now subject to the under-occupancy rule in relation to housing benefit provided for social housing, (b) when such women would become exempt from the scope of the rule in each grouping according to date of birth and (c) how many women are in each such category.

Steve Webb: Due to small sample sizes this information is not available.
	People over the qualifying age for state pension credit, or with a partner over that age, will be exempt from the removal of the spare room subsidy. When this measure was introduced on 1 April 2013, the qualifying age was 61 years and six months.

Jobcentre Plus

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the success of job centres in placing their clients in jobs with Saga Healthcare Ltd.

Mark Hoban: Jobcentre Plus does not track the number of people recruited by specific employers. Saga Healthcare Ltd works with Jobcentre Plus to support people who are furthest from the labour market to compete in the labour market and secure employment in the care sector.

Jobcentre Plus

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the practice of job centres sending their clients for job interviews with care companies paying below the minimum wage.

Mark Hoban: All employers who use Universal Jobmatch are required to sign up to our terms and conditions. These include an agreement that vacancies will meet all legal requirements including national minimum wage. Checks are made to ensure there is compliance with this condition and Jobseekers would not be expected to apply to a vacancy that didn't meet national minimum wage. If a jobseeker complains that this is not the case, and is proved correct, we would remove the vacancy from our service. Employers who breach our terms and conditions can have the use of our services revoked.

Jobcentre Plus

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  whether he has made an estimate of additional time that will be taken by jobcentre staff in order to assist claimants to apply for universal credit online;
	(2)  whether he plans to allocate additional funding to jobcentres to cover the staffing costs of assisting claimants in applying for universal credit online.

Mark Hoban: Universal credit is being rolled out on an incremental basis, beginning with a Pathfinder which starts later this month. The level of resources required in jobcentres will be informed by the experience of running the Pathfinder operation. This will include resources required to support claimants in the on-line application process.

Materials Handling Equipment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to issue guidance to the construction sector on obligations in respect of tower cranes and notification of the presence of cranes to relevant bodies following revocation of the Notification of Tower Cranes Regulations 2010 and the Notification of Conventional Tower Cranes (Amendment) Regulations 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: Guidance in relation to requirements placed on employers to ensure the safe erection, use and dismantling of tower cranes is already in place. This is unaffected by the revocation of the Notification of Conventional Tower Cranes Regulations 2010 and the associated Amendment Regulations. There is also existing guidance from the Civil Aviation Authority recommending that any proposed development of sufficient height to constitute a potential air navigation obstacle should be notified to them.

Personal Independence Payment

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what discussions his Department has had with (a) Atos and (b) Capita regarding training in (i) autism, (ii) mental health conditions and (iii) learning disability for health professionals carrying out the assessment for personal independence payment;
	(2)  what plans his Department has to assess the adequacy of training made available by (a) Atos and (b) Capita in (i) autism, (ii) mental health conditions and (iii) learning disabilities for health professionals who will be carrying out the assessment for personal independence payment;
	(3)  what recent assessment his Department has made of the training made available by (a) Atos and (b) Capita in (i) autism, (ii) mental health and (iii) learning disability for health professionals who will be carrying out the assessment for the personal independence payment.

Esther McVey: The contracts between the Department for Work and Pensions and the personal independence payment assessment providers, Atos and Capita, stipulate that their training for health professionals must meet the Department's requirements. The Department requires health professionals to have a broad training in disability analysis, as well as training in specific conditions. This training will include autism, mental health conditions and learning disability. The Department has reviewed Atos' training materials and is content with them. The Department is currently reviewing Capita's training materials.

Personal Independence Payment

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what discussions his Department has had with (a) Atos and (b) Capita regarding (i) the appointment and (ii) the training of condition-specific champions to assist in the assessment for personal independence payment;
	(2)  what discussions his Department has had with (a) Atos and (b) Capita regarding condition-specific training for health professionals carrying out the assessment for personal independence payments.

Esther McVey: The contracts between the Department for Work and Pensions and the personal independence payment assessment providers, Atos and Capita, stipulate that they must provide mental function champions to give advice and support to health professionals on health conditions and disabilities affecting mental, cognitive, intellectual and behavioural function. Assessment providers are also obliged to provide other condition-specific champions when requested and in agreement with the Department for Work and Pensions.
	The Department is reviewing the condition-specific training material, in the same way as it reviews training materials for all personal independence payment health professionals. The Department has reviewed and is content with Atos' training materials, and is currently reviewing Capita's training materials.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many women are due to reach state pension entitlement age between 1 January 2016 and 31 March 2016 by constituency.

Steve Webb: Around 60,000 women, born between 6 February 1953 and 5 April 1953, will reach state pension age in the United Kingdom between 1 January and 31 March 2016.
	In most constituencies there will be around 100 women in this position, but it is not possible to provide a precise constituency level breakdown of this relatively small group.
	They will reach state pension age at between 62 years 10 months and 63 years old, and will be able to claim their state pension under the current system a little over two years before a man born on the same day, who will reach state pension age at 65, under the new single-tier system. For a woman with a typical level of state pension this will amount to around £13,000 of pension claimed before the age of 65, meaning that most women in this position will have a higher retirement income under the current system and their currently legislated state pension age than they would if they received a single-tier pension but had to wait until they were 65 to claim it.
	For more details of pension outcomes for women who reach state pension age shortly before the introduction of the single-tier pension, see the note recently published on the DWP website at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/note-on-women-cohort-1951-53.pdf

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of the number of full-time equivalent staff needed to apply conditionality to recipients of universal credit who are in employment.

Mark Hoban: Universal credit is being rolled out on an incremental basis, with each phase informing the development and delivery of the next. This includes processing times and staffing levels for each elements of the service, including conditionality.

Work Capability Assessment

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to implement Professor Harrington's recommendations on the work capability assessment and improve such assessments for those on the autistic spectrum.

Mark Hoban: The Department is taking a range of steps to implement the recommendations from the three independent reviews that Professor Harrington has conducted on the work capability assessment. To date we have accepted and implemented or are implementing more than 50 recommendations made by Professor Harrington.
	Following his second independent review in November 2011 Professor Harrington commissioned two groups of charities, to provide recommendations to refine descriptors respectively for (a) mental, cognitive and intellectual functioning and (b) fluctuating conditions.
	Charitable groups reviewed the descriptors; one group focused on the mental, cognitive and intellectual functioning descriptors while the other looked at the fluctuating conditions, both provided recommendations for changes to the Professor Harrington.
	The Department has worked extensively with the charities to agree a single assessment that combines recommendations from both the mental functioning and fluctuating conditions groups, and that the descriptors are suitable for testing. This ‘alternative’ assessment was approved by the charities at the end of August 2012.
	Since early summer 2012, the Department has been working to put together an evidence based review to test the alternative assessment, including developing the training necessary for the Atos healthcare professionals conducting the alternative assessments, further work with the charities concerning the practicalities of the test, and the evaluation strategy.
	We intend to begin the testing phase of the evidence based review in the spring with a final report published later in the year.

Work Capability Assessment

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he has received reports that previous incapacity benefit recipients with advanced Parkinson's disease have been designated by Atos without examination as being potentially eligible for work and that, even when re-classified within the employment and support allowance support group, are being put on a three-year review.

Mark Hoban: The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is not aware of any such reports. However, it is important to note that not all claimants are required to attend a face to face assessment as part of the work capability assessment (WCA) process.
	Where possible, the healthcare professional will provide advice to a decision maker on whether the claimant has limited capability for work or limited capability for work related activity based on all the available evidence, without the need for a face to face assessment. This includes those incapacity benefits claimants undergoing reassessment. These claimants therefore could be placed directly in the work-related activity group (WRAG) of employment and support allowance (ESA) using paper based evidence.
	The WCA is based on the functional effects of a condition rather than the condition itself. All healthcare professionals who carry out the assessments receive comprehensive training which includes an evidence based protocol on Parkinson's disease. They are also trained to inquire about variability, both day to day and in the longer term. Those Parkinson’s sufferers assessed as having limited capability for work will be placed in the WRAG, while those assessed as having limited capability for work related activity will be placed in the support group.
	Everyone who ESA will undergo periodic WCAs to ascertain whether they still meet the conditions for the benefit, including those placed in the support group.
	When an assessment takes place the healthcare professional will make a recommendation on when the claimant should next be reassessed. A claimant for whom a return to work is considered unlikely within two years will be reassessed after two years. Those in the support group will be assessed as a minimum every three years. This is because, even for claimants who are unlikely to see an improvement in their health, it is important that we do not write them off completely.

Work Capability Assessment

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 4 March 2013, Official Report, column 888W, on work capability assessment, how many claimants have undergone an assessment using logic integrated medical assessment (a) nationally and (b) in the Wigan borough council area.

Mark Hoban: Atos Healthcare do not undertake computerised assessments, but Atos healthcare professionals use a bespoke clinical application (Logic Integrated Medical Assessment—LiMA) which incorporates the latest clinical research on mental health, musculoskeletal and cardiorespiratory conditions to accurately and consistently record assessments.
	Although the healthcare professional will capture information on the computer during the assessment, it serves as a guide only and the practitioners are required to use their own clinical judgment to justify the medical opinion contained in the report.
	Information around the geographical area served by a council is not routinely reported by Atos Healthcare to Department for Work and Pensions. However, information has been provided for the three months ending February 2013 of claimants who have undergone a face to face assessment using LiMA in Wigan Medical Assessment Centre and Nationally.
	
		
			  December 2012 January 2013 February 2013 
			 Benefit type Wigan National Wigan National Wigan National 
			 Employment support allowance 434 38,330 521 46,339 350 46,811 
		
	
	
		
			 Incapacity benefit reassessment 182 19,002 253 19,341 176 19,006 
			 Total 616 57,332 774 65,680 526 65,817

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the reasons for the low level of employment and support allowance claimants securing sustained job outcomes through the Work Programme; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: Employment and support allowance is a relatively new benefit, which was designed to help those people who had previously been parked on incapacity benefits, and essentially left without Government support. The Department's previous attempt to help these claimants—Pathways to Work—was not successful.
	Both the Government and the welfare to work industry have more to learn in working with this group. We are working with providers to identify and build on best practice in working with these claimants.

Work Programme: Kilmarnock

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total amount paid to Work programme providers was as a result of residents in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency being placed in employment which generated a job outcome from the inception of the programme to the latest date for which figures are available.

Mark Hoban: The total paid to Work programme providers in the UK is £377.9 million from the start of the programme through to 30 July 2012, ie the period covered by the Statistical Release.
	This amount differs from the £337.9 million reported in the replies provided to questions: PQ 134617 on 20 December 2012, Official Report, column 939W, PQ 135098 on 8 January 2013, Official Report, column 205W, PQ 134998 on 9 January 2013, Official Report, column 331W, PQ 133262 on 10 January 2013, Official Report, column 459W, where an administrative error has been found.
	Due to commercial in confidence considerations we are not able to release financial data below the national level at this time.

Work Programme: Kilmarnock

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of residents in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency who have been referred to the work programme since its inception have been placed in employment which generated a job outcome.

Mark Hoban: Statistics on how many and what proportion of residents in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency who have been referred to the Work programme (since its inception to 31 July 2012) who have been placed in employment which generated a job outcome can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
	Guidance for users is available at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf
	Population estimates for Scotland are published by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) and can be found at:
	http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/theme/population/estimates/mid-year/index.html

Written Questions: Government Responses

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to answer question 145615 on child support cases, tabled on 26 February 2013 for answer on 28 February 2013.

Steve Webb: I apologise for the delay in answering the hon. Member's question. Departmental records recorded that that the reply had been dispatched on 5 March 2013, but due to an administrative error, the reply was not issued. I therefore replied to the hon. Member's question on 15 April 2013, Official Report, column 228W.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Burma

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to ensure that access to adequate food and water is provided to refugee camps in Burma ahead of and throughout the rainy season in that country.

Alan Duncan: DFID humanitarian assistance in Rakhine State is focused on water, sanitation, hygiene and nutritional assistance to 58,000 internally displaced people (IDPs). This month we deployed a humanitarian adviser to Rakhine State to assess the priority needs of the IDPs there, and to assess any gaps in current programmes of assistance and preparedness in advance of the approaching rainy season. We continue to work with Government and the United Nations to ensure that adequate resources are devoted to addressing these needs.

Burma

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what reports she has received on whether ration cuts are forcing women from Burma in refugee camps in Thailand to leave those camps to work illegally in Thailand.

Alan Duncan: DFID has not received any such reports.

Burma

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to provide adequate healthcare for unregistered internally displaced people in Rakhine State in Burma; and what reports she has received of internally displaced people in the region not receiving the assistance that is delivered to official camps.

Alan Duncan: We continue to press for all internally displaced people (IDPs) and vulnerable populations to receive adequate humanitarian assistance. The United Nations now recognise a caseload of 140,000 IDPs in Rakhine State, which includes the previous caseload of 125,000 as well as a number of people not hitherto officially recognised as IDPs. The UK's humanitarian assistance in Rakhine State is focused on water, sanitation, hygiene and nutritional assistance to IDPs.

Burma

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to facilitate the safe passage of humanitarian assistance to internally displaced people's camps in Rakhine State, Burma.

Alan Duncan: DFID staff conduct regular visits to camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Rakhine State to assess the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and are in daily contact with humanitarian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the United Nations agencies on the ground. Senior DFID and Foreign Office officials, including the ambassador, meet the Burmese Government on a regular basis to stress the importance of humanitarian assistance reaching those who need it most.
	The UK has provided £2 million of humanitarian assistance through NGO partners, delivering improved water, sanitation, hygiene and nutritional assistance to IDPs.

Kenya

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations she has made to her Kenyan counterparts on maintaining service provision to refugees and asylum seekers in cities compliant with the UN Refugee Agency's 2009 global urban refugee policy, the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and Kenya's Refugee Act 2006 following the directive by the Kenyan Government on the relocation of refugees from the urban centres to the refugee camps in December 2012.

Lynne Featherstone: The British Government have raised concerns over the proposed Kenyan Government refugee directive with the Kenyan Ministers, and encouraged them to work closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to ensure the policy and any implementation are consistent with the rights of refugees and asylum seekers.

Kenya

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the effects of the directive by the Kenyan government in December 2012 on the relocation of refugees from the urban centres to the refugee camps on (a) the registration of refugees in urban areas in Kenya and (b) the provision of assistance to urban refugees in Kenya.

Lynne Featherstone: Registration of new urban refugees has been suspended since the announcement of the Kenyan Government's directive in December 2012 to relocate refugees from urban centres to the refugee camps. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that assistance to remaining registered urban refugees is continuing uninterrupted.

Mali

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to provide humanitarian assistance specifically targeted to female Malian refugees.

Lynne Featherstone: The UK Government's humanitarian response in the Sahel, as with all responses, is based on need alone, in line with the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence.
	None of our humanitarian assistance to the region is therefore specifically targeted at female refugees. However, the rights, needs and vulnerabilities of women and girls are often overlooked in emergencies. The UK Government are working closely with all our aid partners to ensure the most vulnerable, specifically women and children, receive the assistance they need.
	In direct response to the Mali conflict, UK aid is supporting the work of the United Nations' Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme, to provide a comprehensive package of aid including food, health care, protection, and clean water, to over 135,000 refugees in Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger.

Mali

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the increase in food prices in Northern Mali following recent military intervention in the region.

Lynne Featherstone: According to the United Nations, the recent interventions in northern Mali have severely disrupted trading supply routes from Algeria, resulting in rising food prices in the area. As a result, a significant proportion of traders have reportedly left the Kidal area of northern Mali, increasing the risk of serious food shortages in the region in the coming months.
	In direct response to this crisis, UK aid is currently providing support to the International Committee of the Red Cross and World Food Programme's emergency operations in northern Mali. These programmes aim to provide food assistance to conflict-affected and internally displaced people in northern Mali.
	The UK will continue to monitor the situation closely to ensure that needs are being met as effectively and efficiently as possible by the international community.

Overseas Aid

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of her Department's budget contributed to UK Overseas Development Assistance in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, and (d) 2013 to date; and how much her Department expects to contribute in this fashion by the end of 2013.

Justine Greening: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 4 February 2013, Official Report, column 39W, to the hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty).

Overseas Aid

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department contributed to total UK Overseas Development Assistance in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013 to date; and how much her Department expects to contribute in this fashion by the end of 2013.

Justine Greening: The value of official development assistance (ODA) provided by the UK that was spent by DFID for 2010-12 is given in the following table. Please note that the figure provided for 2012 is provisional. Final 2012 ODA figures will be available following the publication of the 2013 edition of ‘Statistics on International Development’ (SID) in autumn 2013.
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2010 7,386 
			 2011 7,722 
			 2012 7,537 
		
	
	In 2013, we estimate the Department will spend over £10.04 billion of the total UK ODA budget.

Overseas Aid

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of total UK Overseas Development Assistance her Department's contribution accounted for in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 to date; and how much her Department expects to contribute in this fashion by the end of 2013.

Justine Greening: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 4 February 2013, Official Report, column 39W, to the hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty).

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what criteria are used in (a) her Department and (b) each public body for which she is responsible to determine which officials receive bonus payments.

Alan Duncan: Senior civil servants (SCS) in the DFID are eligible to be considered for a year end non-consolidated performance award. Only the top 25% of performers are eligible for an award.
	In considering the performance of SCS members, line managers take into account:
	performance against agreed priority business objectives or targets;
	the leadership behaviours exhibited in the achievement of objectives;
	total delivery record over the year;
	management of resources;
	the challenge of the job compared to that of others;
	response to unforeseen events that affected the performance agreement.
	Awards are funded within existing pay bill controls, have to be re-earned each year against the pre-determined criteria above and, as such, do not add to future pay bill costs.
	Staff in grades below the SCS are eligible to be considered for a year end non-consolidated performance award. Awards are intended to reward both the delivery of personal business objectives during the reporting year and demonstration of DFID's values. Awards are restricted to those performing to a satisfactory or better level and have to be re-earned each year.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many days of work were carried out by officials in (a) her Department and (b) each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies on average in each of the last five years; and what the total salary cost was of officials in each year.

Alan Duncan: The following table provides the information requested for the DFID in each of the last five years. DFID's has two non-departmental public bodies: (1) the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission which has no staff; and (2) the Independent Commission for Aid Impact established in 2010 has five or fewer staff so the numbers not reported separately. DFID has no agencies.
	
		
			  Pay bill (£000) Days worked(1) 
			 2007-08 85,414 354,667 
			 2008-09 90,829 352,044 
			 2009-10 92,876 346,082 
			 2010-11 92,465 344,828 
			 2011-12 93,478 363,462 
			 (1) Days worked is based on the number of full time equivalent staff in post as at 31 March in each of the financial years.

Syria

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much financial or other aid her Department has promised in respect of the situation in Syria.

Justine Greening: DFID receives its funding from the Treasury as allocated in the spending review. The UK's total humanitarian funding for Syria and the region to date is £139.5 million.
	In addition to humanitarian assistance, DFID is also providing non-lethal equipment and practical assistance for the Syrian opposition, as well as supporting civil society through human rights, transitional justice programmes and local council capacity building projects. The funding for this support is met from the Conflict Pool budget. The Conflict Pool budget for Syria in financial years 2012-13 and 2013-14 is £10 million per year.

Syria

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to mitigate the effects of attacks against humanitarian staff, aid buildings and supply routes, hospitals and medical units in Syria.

Justine Greening: The UK has provided humanitarian agencies with armoured four-wheel drive vehicles to mitigate the effects of attacks against humanitarian workers in their delivery of aid. The UK continues to call on all parties to the violence in Syria to reach an agreement to allow humanitarian operations to be carried out without interference or threat of violence, in line with international humanitarian law, so that humanitarian agencies are able to deliver sustained humanitarian aid to all those in need, no matter where they are in the country.

Tibet

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment her Department has made of the effects of climate change and glacier meltdown in Tibet and the surrounding region.

Lynne Featherstone: DFID has funded two assessments on glacial melt in the Himalayan region.
	The first assessment modelled the long-term effects of deglaciation on rivers originating from the Hindu-Kush Himalayas. The second assessment reviewed 52 published studies on glacier shrinkage across the Himalayan region. These reports are available on the DFID's Research for Development website, and both contain findings relevant to the Tibetan region.
	DFID is also supporting work in the Mount Kailash area, which covers parts of Tibet, and aims to help about 1 million people adapt to the effects of changing river flows as a result of glacier melt. A new central research programme will also deliver new knowledge on how to adapt to climate change across all the Himalayan river basins.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Administration of Justice: Females

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to increase women’s and girls' access to justice processes in conflict areas that (a) meet their specific needs and (b) ensure the perpetrators of sexual violence are brought to justice.

Mark Simmonds: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) continues to support action to increase women's and girls' access to justice processes in conflict areas through its Government Action Plan on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 Women, Peace and Security. For example, the FCO is providing financial support to a UN Development Programme project in Nepal which aims to strengthen the Capacity of the National Human Rights Commission to develop a responsive and accessible justice system to promote gender equality, social inclusion and the rule of law. Conflict Pool funds have also been used to support the work of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission to help it act to protect human rights defenders, investigate and catalogue violence towards women, and support those seeking justice.
	The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague)'s Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVJ), launched last May, is intended to support and complement work which is under way across the UK Government on the Women, Peace and Security agenda. One of the key aims is to tackle the culture of impunity for sexual violence committed in conflict and to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable for their actions. At their meeting on 11 April, G8 Foreign Ministers agreed a Declaration on Preventing Sexual Violence which contains a set of practical commitments to overcome the barriers that impede the implementation of the existing international legal framework and prevent successful investigations and prosecutions. The G8 also endorsed a new, non-legally binding, international protocol on the investigation and documentation of sexual violence in conflict. The UK is currently taking forward work on developing the protocol. This protocol will help improve the evidence base from which prosecutions for sexual violence in conflict can be drawn. The G8 has collectively pledged £23 million in new funding to address sexual violence in conflict.
	The FCO has also established a specialist team of UK experts to deploy to conflict areas to support the UN and civil society to help build national capacity to investigate allegations of sexual violence and gather evidence. A number of deployments have already taken place. For example in March a legal and a psychosocial expert were deployed to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). They worked alongside local experts and in cooperation with the Judicial and Prosecutorial Training Centre of the Federation of BiH and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe to train judges and prosecutors to strengthen their capacity to effectively prosecute and adjudicate wartime sexual violence crimes in accordance with international standards.
	The Secretary of State announced UK support to furthering justice and accountability in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during his visit there in March this year. The UK will aim to deploy two UK experts to Panzi Hospital in the DRC for three months to collaborate with the NGO Physicians for Human Rights and local experts to train and mentor doctors, lawyers, police and judges on their response to specific current cases of sexual violence. The experts will focus on building capacity among local health, legal and law enforcement professionals. They will acquire essential skills that will make a lasting contribution to justice and accountability initiatives in DRC.

Afghanistan

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to his Afghan counterpart on the adequate representation of women in all peace and reconciliation talks and compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1325.

Alistair Burt: Ministers continue to make clear to the Government of Afghanistan that the Afghan-led peace process should be inclusive and address the concerns of all Afghan citizens, including women. Human rights considerations and the protection of women's rights must be embedded in the transition process and gains made must be protected. The Joint Statement agreed by UK, Pakistan and Afghanistan issued after the Chequers Trilateral Summit on 4 February this year makes clear that the Afghan-led peace process should be one in which all of Afghanistan's people can participate peacefully in the country's political future.
	Human rights, particularly women's rights, were a key priority for the Senior Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Warsi, during her visit to Afghanistan on 4-6 March. The Minister discussed women's vital contribution to building peace, security and prosperity in Afghanistan with Foreign Minister Rassoul, leading female parliamentarians and other government and civil society representatives. Baroness Warsi had the opportunity to further emphasise our support for women's rights in Afghanistan at a reception at the Afghan embassy on International Women's Day.
	We were pleased that in his statement at the 22nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on 25 February, Minister Rassoul made clear Afghanistan's support to the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 women, peace and security and confirmed that the Afghan National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325 will be launched in early 2014.
	We will continue to work closely with the Government of Afghanistan and wider Afghan authorities, international partners and local and international civil society organisations to improve the status of women in Afghanistan, so that they can play a full role in a future, peaceful Afghanistan and fulfil their commitments under UNSCR 1325.

Burma

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the EU Foreign Affairs Council will next meet; and whether the suspension of sanctions on Burma will be discussed at that meeting.

Hugo Swire: The EU Foreign Affairs Council will next meet on 22 April 2013. The dates for all upcoming EU Council meetings are published on the Europa website at the following address:
	http://europa.eu/newsroom/calendar/
	On 22 April, EU Foreign Ministers will discuss the situation in Burma in the context of reviewing the EU’s restrictive measures, most of which were suspended on 23 April 2012. The arms embargo and restrictions on the supply of equipment which could be used for internal repression remain in place.

Burma

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to his Burmese counterparts to encourage local authorities in Rakhine State to prevent the harassment of humanitarian staff.

Hugo Swire: The British Government remain extremely concerned by the humanitarian situation in Rakhine State. We have received reports from international n on-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the UN regarding humanitarian access and the operating environment for those providing much needed assistance. The chargé d’affaires at our embassy in Rangoon joined representatives from the UN, EU, US and Australia to meet with the Burmese Minister with responsibility for Rakhine State, Khin Yi, on 8 April and raised our concerns about the situation, including restrictions affecting NGOs.

Capital Punishment

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many countries have (a) abolished and (b) a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

David Lidington: The latest figures published by Amnesty International indicate there are 140 states which are abolitionist in law or practice, which includes any country observing a moratorium for over 10 years. We do not have figures for the number of countries observing a moratorium for less than 10 years. 58 states retain the death penalty.

Capital Punishment

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will provide an update on progress on the Government's strategy for the abolition of the death penalty.

David Lidington: We continue to seek the global abolition of the death penalty through the implementation of our 2011-15 strategy. We regularly raise the issue in bilateral discussions with countries of concern and fund projects throughout the world in support of abolition. We also regularly raise the death penalty in multilateral forums and worked intensively to help ensure that the UN General Assembly Resolution against the death penalty last year was supported by more countries than ever. We are confident that this work has contributed to the increasing trend towards global abolition reported by Amnesty International in its most recent report. We are determined that our work in implementing the strategy must continue to meet the challenges also highlighted in that report.

India

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his Indian counterpart on the number of outstanding rape cases in that country.

Hugo Swire: Where a case involves violence against a British national, we liaise with the Indian authorities to urge a swift resolution to the case. I raised the delays affecting consular cases involving British nationals with my Indian counterpart, Deputy Foreign Minister, Preneet Kaur, during my recent visit to India in March. During my visit, I also discussed the broader issue of sexual violence and discrimination with Indian human rights organisations. The Government regularly raise human rights concerns with India, including cases of sexual violence and discrimination, both bilaterally and through the EU-India Human Rights Dialogue.

India

Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has had with the Indian Government about the increased visa charge for British visitors to India; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of that increase on the number of such visitors.

Hugo Swire: I am aware that visa fees for India have recently increased. Officials at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have raised this with the Indian high commission in London and have been given assurances that the increase in the Indian visa fees is not exclusive to British applicants, but that visa fees have been revised globally. The Indian Government's immigration policies and procedures, including fees and the impact on the number of visitors to India, are purely a matter for them.

Lebanon

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the prospects for the planned elections in Lebanon.

Alistair Burt: Parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place in June of this year. In order for elections to take place as planned, confessional leaders must come to an agreement over a new elections law. Following the recent resignation of Prime Minister Mikati, it is now imperative that a political consensus is reached. We call on all parties in Lebanon to work together to ensure that elections take place on a consensual basis within the legal and constitutional framework.

Middle East

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the EU Heads of Mission Jerusalem Report for 2012; what steps he plans to take in light of this Report; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the report.

Alistair Burt: It would not be appropriate to comment in detail on the contents of an internal report that was leaked to the press. We have made clear our position that we believe that a lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis will mean, among other things, the creation of a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital. We are strongly opposed to any attempts to change the facts on the ground in East Jerusalem by excluding Palestinians from the city and by increasing the number of settlers living there. Such acts raise tensions and undermine prospects for peace. We have made these concerns known to the Israelis both in private and in public.

Middle East and Africa

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to defend Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the Middle East and Africa.

David Lidington: We are clear with governments in the region that it is important for universal human rights to underpin their political systems and societies. Just last week the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Alistair Burt), strongly condemned the violent clashes that occurred on 7 April outside St Mark's Coptic Cathedral in Cairo. He also said that freedom of religion or belief is a vital component of a democratic society that individuals should be able to visit their places of worship safely and peacefully, and that security forces must act effectively to protect them.
	In the long-term, I believe that the Arab Spring presents an historic opportunity for a more democratic, inclusive middle east and north Africa, based on respect for the rights of all. Through the Arab Partnership Initiative we are supporting long-term reform in the region. We are working to strengthen the rule of law and local institutions, including parliaments, the media, justice systems and civil society. And we are supporting more inclusive, accountable governance structures that support economic and political participation for all, regardless of background, gender or faith.

New Zealand

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what financial assistance his Department provided to the government of New Zealand following the Christchurch earthquake.

Hugo Swire: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has not provided any financial assistance to New Zealand following the Christchurch earthquake, nor was it asked to do so by the Government of New Zealand. However, the New Zealand Government did ask their international partners, including the British Government, for practical assistance. This assistance included sending emergency and rescue teams as well as specialists in disaster victim identification.

Sexual Offences

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will use the UK's Presidency of the G8 to secure commitments to address gaps in essential services required by victims of sexual violence.

Mark Simmonds: Yes. Preventing sexual violence in conflict is the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague)’s personal priority for the G8 Foreign Ministers meeting on the 10-11 April. The Foreign Secretary secured a major declaration on preventing sexual violence in conflict, the first-of its kind. The G8 collectively pledged £23 million in new funding towards this.
	One of the barriers to more effective action on this issue that we have identified is the gap in funding, resources and services for survivors of sexual violence. The G8 agreed that the provision of appropriate and accessible services, including health, psychosocial, legal and economic support is essential to support the rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of sexual violence in armed conflict and to empower them to pursue justice. The UK position is that all service provision for survivors must be in compliance with the principle of “do no harm” and in accordance with UN Guidelines for gender-based violence interventions in humanitarian settings.

Syria

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 21 March 2013, Official Report, column 781W, on Syria, when the training referred to in his answer will (a) begin and (b) end.

William Hague: The next phase of training is scheduled to begin on 29 April and should be completed within two months.

Syria

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 21 March 2013, Official Report, column 781W, on Syria, how many training providers are conducting training for opposition forces in Syria; and how many British nationals are employed by each such provider.

William Hague: We have used two training providers for training Syrian opposition forces. One employs no British nationals and the other employs between six and 10 British nationals, depending on work flows.

Syria

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 21 March 2013, Official Report, column 781W, on Syria, what categories of training are being provided through the training providers referred to in that answer.

William Hague: The training we are providing covers human rights and the law of armed conflict. It is specifically designed lo provide the participants with a clear idea of their responsibility to ensure international standards of human rights and humanitarian law.

Syria

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 21 March 2013, Official Report, column 781W, on Syria, what previous funding has been given by his Department to the training providers referred to in that answer.

William Hague: We have used two training providers to date. We have no history of previous funding with one provider. We have previously funded the second training provider to provide training courses, capacity-building and equipment to a value of £3.4 million.

JUSTICE

Alternatives to Prosecution: Yorkshire and the Humber

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) conditional cautions, (b) simple cautions, (c) penalty notices for disorder and (d) other out-of-court disposals have been issued for offences of (i) murder, (ii) rape, (iii) unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, (iv) robbery, (v) burglary, (vi) arson and criminal damage, (vii) section 18 offences under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, (viii) section 20 offences under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and (ix) sexual assaults there were in the Humberside local police authority area from 2009 to date.

Jeremy Wright: The use of cautions is at its lowest level for more than five years, as is the number of cautions issued to those who have a previous criminal record. The public and victims have a right to expect that people who commit serious crimes should be brought before a court. On 3 April 2013 we launched a review into the use of cautions which will focus on the use of cautions for serious offences and persistent offenders.
	Among other things, the review will examine whether there are some offences for which the use of simple cautions is generally inappropriate, the reasons why multiple cautions are given to some criminals and the difference in the use of cautions by police force areas. The review is a significant step to ensuring that cautions are used correctly, in the interests of justice, and command the confidence of the public. The review will be completed by the end of May 2013.
	The number of offenders cautioned (which includes conditional and simple cautions) for the selected offences in the Humberside police force area, from 2004 to 2011 (latest data available), can be viewed in table 1.
	The number of Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) issued to offenders aged 16 and over for criminal damage, in the Humberside police force area, from 2004 to 2011 (latest data available), can be viewed in table 2.
	Please note that PNDs came in to effect in November 2004, and that they are not available for the offences requested except for Criminal Damage.
	Court proceedings data for 2012 are planned for publication in May 2013.
	
		
			 Table 1: Offenders cautioned(1,2) for selected offences in Humberside police force area, 2004-11(3) 
			 Humberside police force area 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 Rape(4) 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Sexualactivity(5) 5 8 13 11 1 7 8 10 
			 Robbery(6) 4 1 8 1 0 0 2 1 
			 Burglary(7) 120 99 139 140 107 73 84 62 
			 ArsonandCriminal damage(8) 603 786 767 776 808 593 447 405 
			 OffencesAgainstthePersonAct1861, S18 1 2 3 1 0 0 2 1 
			 OffencesAgainstthePersonAct1861, S20 6 8 10 15 4 1 1 0 
			 SexualAssault(9) 1 9 12 16 4 11 13 12 
			 (1) The cautions statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When an offender has been cautioned for two or more offences at the same time the principal offence is the more serious offence. (2) From 1 June 2000 the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and warnings. These figures have been included in the totals. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4) Sexual Offences Act 2003, s1 and s5 (5) Sexual Offences Act 2003, s8,9, 10, 11, 12, 13 (6) Theft Act 1968, s8 (7) Theft Act 1968, s9 and s10 (8) Criminal Damage Act 1971 s1 - s3, Malicious Damage Act 1861 SS.35,36, 47 & 48, Explosive Substances Act 1883 s2 - s4, Offences against the Person Act 1861 s64 and Allotments Act 1922 s19 (9) Sexual Offences Act 2003, s2,3,6 and 7 Note: Figures may not match previously published information following further validation of available data. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Number of Penalty Notices for Disorder issued to offenders aged 16 and over for Criminal Damage in Humberside, 2009 to 2011 
			 Offence 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 Criminal Damage (under £500)(1) 16 182 719 982 500 351 167 138 
			 (1) Offence added with effect from 1 November 2004. Penalty notices may only be used for criminal damage up to a value of £300 from July 2009 onwards. Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice

Community Orders: Greater London

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the value is of the indemnity which his Department has underwritten for the pension liabilities created as part of the award of the London Community Payback contract to Serco.

Jeremy Wright: All three bidders in the London Community Payback competition were provided with a £2 million contract exit indemnity in relation to any pension liabilities arising during the contract period. Additionally the Ministry of Justice has agreed to indemnify any liabilities arising from historic pension liabilities at the point of contract transfer. The amount of these liabilities have been recently valued at approximately £3.7 million but this amount may vary subject to triennial revaluations.

Employment and Support Allowance: Appeals

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many claimants for employment and support allowance have had their appeals overturned at a tribunal in (a) North Lanarkshire and (b) Airdrie and Shotts constituency in each year since 2010.

Helen Grant: The First-tier Tribunal—Social Security and Child Support (SSCS), administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service—hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) decisions on entitlement to employment and support allowance (ESA). Appeals can be made against elements of an ESA award, such as the rate of entitlement, as well as against a decision to refuse ESA.
	The following tables show the number and proportion of ESA appeals found in favour of the appellant and in favour of DWP in the tribunal venues in Glasgow and Hamilton, which serve appellants living in the North Lanarkshire and Airdrie and Shotts constituencies, as well as other nearby locations, in 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and April to December 2012 (the latest period for which statistics have been published).
	
		
			 Employment and support allowance appeals 
			 Glasgow 
			   (a) Decisions in favour of DWP (b) Decisions in favour of the appellant 
			  ESA cases cleared at hearing(1) Number Percentage Number Percentage 
			 April 2009 to March 2010 3,004 1,733 58 1,234 41 
			 April 2010 to March 2011 6,060 3,501 58 2,395 40 
			 April 2011 to March 2012 9,238 5,224 57 3,928 43 
			 April 2012 to December 2012 8,898 4,833 54 4,010 45 
		
	
	
		
			 Hamilton 
			   (a) Decisions in favour of DWP (b) Decisions in favour of the appellant 
			  ESA cases cleared at hearing(1) Number Percentage Number Percentage 
			 April 2009 to March 2010 1,177 779 66 390 33 
			 April 2010 to March2011 2,357 1,585 67 746 32 
			 April 2011 to March 2012 2,611 1,609 62 976 37 
			 April 2012 to December 2012 2,485 1,434 58 1,044 42 
		
	
	
		
			 Scotland 
			   (a) Decisions in favour of DWP (b) Decisions in favour of the appellant 
			  ESA cases cleared at hearing(1) Number Percentage Number Percentage 
			 April 2009 to March 2010 9,218 5,461 59 3,670 40 
			 April 2010 to March201l 18,904 10,889 58 7,649 40 
			 April 2011 to March 2012 22,782 12,975 , 57 9,577 42 
			 April 2012 to December 2012 20,967 11,234 54 9,597 46 
			 (1) These are cases that were disposed of at a hearing. The total number of cases cleared at hearing includes some cases that were withdrawn and on which no decision was made. These figures are therefore not the sum total of decisions in favour and decisions upheld.

Employment Tribunals Service

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many employment tribunal cases have been lodged in the last three years relating to non-prison officers working in HM prisons, such as external lecturers.

Helen Grant: Data on the number of claims made in relation to non-prison officers working in HM prisons are not collated centrally. This information could be provided only at a disproportionate cost by manually checking hard copy tribunal files or judgments. However, HM Courts and Tribunals Service maintains public registers of judgments made after the determination of employment tribunal proceedings. The public register can be searched by reference to criteria including the name of the respondent employer. For employment tribunals in England and Wales, the public register of judgments is based at the Field Support Office in Bury St Edmonds. Contact can be made via the Public Inquiry Line (08457 959775), and further information can be found on the Ministry of Justice website at the following address:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/tribunals/employment/venues/public_register_bury1.pdf

Offenders: Fines

Paul Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his proposed time frame is for the implementation of new charges to recover the costs of collecting fines from offenders.

Jeremy Wright: There is no settled timeframe for implementation. Implementation will occur once we are satisfied that the right, fully tested and assured, systems are in place.

Offenders: Rehabilitation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what vetting procedures will be in place for mentors recruited to supervise offenders leaving prison;
	(2)  whether mentors for supervising offenders leaving prison will be subject to Criminal Record Bureau checks;
	(3)  how many offenders leaving prison will each mentor be expected to manage at any one time;
	(4)  whether his Department plans to pay mentors supervising offenders leaving prison.

Jeremy Wright: We are committed to opening up rehabilitative services to a range of new providers, who will be paid by results to help offenders turn their lives around. As a part of this we expect to see more use of innovative approaches, such as mentoring, and for offenders to receive targeted support to tackle the root causes of offending.
	The Ministry of Justice's consultation on plans for reforming the way in which offenders are rehabilitated in the community closed on 22 February. We will respond to the consultation and bring forward detailed plans in due course.

Prison Sentences

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders served custodial sentences of under 12 months in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Jeremy Wright: These figures are published quarterly in the publication ‘Offender Management Statistics Quarterly Bulletin’ (Prison discharge tables—Table 3.1) and available via this link:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/prisons-and-probation/oms-quarterly
	Data for the whole of 2012 will be published on 25 April 2013.

Probation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the total number of offenders supervised by each probation trust was at 31 December 2012.

Jeremy Wright: Information on the total number of offenders supervised by each probation trust as at 31 December 2012 is planned for publication on 25 April 2013.

Probation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the proposed budget is for each probation trust in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Jeremy Wright: The contract values for financial year 2013-14 agreed with each probation trust—as at March 2013—are in the following table. Contract prices may vary throughout the financial year. Probation trusts may also receive income from elsewhere.
	Detailed contract values budgets are not available for financial year 2014-15. Budget allocations will be set as part of the Department's regular annual budget allocation process. Allocations will be made on the basis of need and according to departmental priorities.
	
		
			 Probation trust contract values for financial year 2013-14(1) 
			 Probation trust £ million 
			 Avon and Somerset 19.7 
			 Bedfordshire 8.7 
			 Cambridgeshire 9.5 
			 Cheshire 14.0 
			 Cumbria 8.0 
			 Derbyshire 12.7 
			 Devon and Cornwall 18.0 
			 Dorset 8.5 
			 Durham and Teesside 21.6 
			 Essex 18.6 
			 Gloucestershire 7.1 
			 Greater Manchester 46.8 
			 Hampshire 22.7 
			 Hertfordshire 10.9 
			 Humberside 15.6 
			 Kent 19.3 
			 Lancashire 23.7 
			 Leicester and Rutland 13.9 
			 Lincolnshire 8.7 
			 London 119.7 
			 Merseyside 28.7 
			 Norfolk and Suffolk 18.7 
			 Northamptonshire 8.5 
			 Northumbria 27.7 
		
	
	
		
			 Nottinghamshire 17.8 
			 South Yorkshire 23.3 
			 Staffordshire and West Midlands 67.9 
			 Surrey and Sussex 25.0 
			 Thames Valley 24.4 
			 Wales 51.3 
			 Warwickshire 6.6 
			 West Mercia 14.4 
			 West Yorkshire 38.1 
			 Wiltshire 6.9 
			 York and North Yorkshire 9.4 
			 Total 796.3 
			 (1) Agreed as at March 2013. Note: Figures are rounded.

Probation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what savings to the public purse he expects to arise from the implementation of his plans for transforming rehabilitation;
	(2)  what savings his Department estimates would be made on an annual basis if the proposals in the consultation paper Transforming Rehabilitation, published in January 2013, were implemented.

Jeremy Wright: On 22 February the Ministry of Justice's consultation on plans for reforming the way in which offenders are rehabilitated in the community closed. Our proposed reforms will help reduce reoffending by opening up rehabilitation services to a more diverse market, using payment by results to encourage providers to focus on outcomes, and by making the whole system more efficient, so that we can extend rehabilitative provision to offenders released from short custodial sentences of less than 12 months.
	We need to achieve this in a way that is affordable within the context of the Ministry of Justice's commitment to deliver annual savings of over £2 billion by 2014-15.
	We have consulted on how best to structure the system so it is organised in the most efficient manner and we are looking carefully at responses to the consultation to ensure we get the details right. We will bring forward detailed plans in due course.

Probation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will estimate the proportion of the total payment to contractors that will be paid by results under his plans for transforming rehabilitation.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice's consultation on plans for reforming the way in which offenders are rehabilitated in the community closed on 22 February.
	Under our proposals we will use Payment by Results to encourage providers to focus on reducing reoffending outcomes. Using a Payment by Results model makes sense as a way of improving effectiveness and getting a good deal for the taxpayer. We are working to design success measures and a payment model that will provide strong incentives for providers to deliver results, including for more difficult and prolific offenders. We will bring forward detailed plans in due course.

Probation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the police and other criminal justice agencies will be able to access information on offenders being supervised by private companies and voluntary organisations that are delivering contracts as part of his plans for transforming rehabilitation.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice’s consultation on plans for reforming the way in which offenders are rehabilitated in the community closed on 22 February. Close communication and sharing of information between all those involved with an offender will be crucial to make the reformed system work effectively. We are considering carefully the responses to the consultation relating to this important issue and will bring forward detailed plans in due course.

Probation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what processes his Department plans to put in place to evaluate independently payment by results providers as part of his plans for transforming rehabilitation;
	(2)  whether his Department plans to take over failing contracts as part of the Transforming Rehabilitation proposals.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice's consultation on plans for reforming the way in which offenders are rehabilitated in the community closed on 22 February. Under our proposals we will use Payment by Results to encourage providers to focus on reducing reoffending outcomes. Using a Payment by Results model makes sense as a way of improving effectiveness and getting a good deal for the taxpayer. We will pay for what works to reduce reoffending, but providers who fail to reduce reoffending will have to bear the cost of that failure.
	We are working to design success measures and a payment model that will provide strong incentives for providers to deliver results, including for more difficult and prolific offenders. We will bring forward detailed plans in due course.

Probation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what contingency measures will be in place should contractors delivering outsourced probation services fail to meet minimum standards;
	(2)  what conditions will be placed on contactors delivering outsourced probation work to ensure professional standards amongst employees.

Jeremy Wright: We recognise the need to design contracts that are robust, drive the right behaviours and help generate improved value for money. The Ministry of Justice's consultation on plans for reforming the way in which offenders are rehabilitated in the community closed on 22 February. We are considering how minimum standards are set and performance is managed and will bring forward detailed plans in due course.

Prosecutions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many times prosecutors have amended criminal charges to (a) lesser charges and (b) more serious charges after a plea has been taken in court but where the defendant has not yet been sentenced for the originally charged offence in each of the last three years.

Jeremy Wright: HMCTS does not centrally collate changes to criminal charges after a plea has been taken in either the magistrates courts or the Crown court. Cases are managed on an individual basis and this information will be held on case logs on individual files but to manually interrogate them and collate that information would involve disproportionate costs so I am unable to answer my hon. Friend’s question.

Reoffenders

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the reoffending rate was in each of the last three years.

Jeremy Wright: These figures are published quarterly and can be found in table 1 (Summary proven re-offending for adults and juveniles) in the publication ‘Proven re-offending Statistics Quarterly Bulletin' and available via this link:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/reoffending/proven-re-offending

Robbery: Sentencing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2013, Official Report, column 788W, on sentencing: robbery, how many of those offenders convicted of robbery and not sent to prison in each year were (a) adults and (b) young offenders; and how many were subsequently convicted of another offence.

Jeremy Wright: Robbery is a serious crime carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The vast majority of offenders do go to prison for the offence—the immediate custody rate for adults in 2011 was 84.3%. The average sentence length for offenders convicted of burglary over the period 2009-11 is 1,003 days.
	Reoffending rates are unacceptably high. We are tackling this by changing the way we deal with offenders released after short sentences, so there is greater supervision and rehabilitation.
	Table 1 shows the number of adult and young offenders sentenced for robbery without receiving a custodial sentence in England and Wales, 2009-11.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of adult and young offenders sentenced for robbery without receiving a custodial sentence England and Wales, 2009-11(1, 2) 
			  2009 2010 2011 
			 Total 3,509 3,568 3,710 
			 Of which:    
			 Adults (age 18 or over) 832 907 866 
			 Young offenders (ages 10-17) 2,677 2,661 2,844 
			 Notes: (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	Table 2 shows the number of adult and young offenders who, having received a non-custodial sentence for robbery between 2009 and 2011, subsequently went on to be convicted of another offence.
	The data presented in this table are derived from a different source from those given in table 1 and therefore are not directly comparable. In addition, it should be noted that those offenders receiving a non-custodial sentence for robbery in 2009 will have had at up to two years longer to be convicted of another offence than those receiving a non-custodial sentence in 2011, Therefore, no attempt should be made to compare the figures over the three years presented.
	
		
			 Table 2: Number of adults and young offenders who, having received a non-custodial sentence for robbery between 2009 and 2011, subsequently went on to be convicted of another offence, England and Wales 
			  2009 2010 2011 
			 Adults (ages 18 and over) 425 403 289 
			 Young offenders (ages 10-17) 1,901 1,684 1,414 
			 Source: Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	These figures have been drawn from the police's administrative IT system, the police national computer, which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. The figures are provisional and subject to change as more information is recorded by the police.

Unpaid Fines: North-west

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many unpaid fines there were in the north west in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the monetary value of those fines was.

Helen Grant: As at the end of September 2012 there was a total amount of £98,894,298 outstanding in the north-west region. This amount relates to all outstanding accounts regardless of when they were imposed and includes accounts which are compliant with their payment terms or not yet due for payment.
	It is not possible to identify the number of outstanding fines the amount above relates to.
	HMCTS actively pursues all outstanding fines until certain that the fine cannot be collected.

Young Offenders

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with regard to people under the age of 18 that have been arrested and cautioned since May 2005, (a) what the offence was which provoked the caution and (b) how many cautions that person had already received by (i) region and (ii) year.

Jeremy Wright: The use of cautions is at its lowest level for more than five years, as is the number of cautions issued to those who have a previous criminal record. The public and victims have a right to expect that people who commit serious crimes should be brought before a court. On 3 April 2013 we launched a review into the use of cautions which will focus on the use of cautions for serious offences and persistent offenders.
	Among other things, the review will examine whether there are some offences for which the use of simple cautions is generally inappropriate, the reasons why multiple cautions are given to some criminals and the difference in the use of cautions by police force areas. The review is a significant step to ensuring that cautions are used correctly, in the interests of justice, and command the confidence of the public. The review will be completed by the end of May 2013.
	Table 1 is in answer to part (a) of the question and shows the number of offenders in England and Wales under the age of 18 who have been cautioned between May 2005 and June 2012 by the offence class for which they were cautioned, by region of the police force issuing the caution and year. Table 2 is in answer to part (b) of the question and shows the number of offenders in England and Wales under the age of 18 who have been cautioned between May 2005 and June 2012 by the previous number of times they have received a caution, by region of the police force issuing the caution and year.
	The data include caution occasions and the primary offence committed for each caution occasion is the one used to determine the offence type in Table 1. An individual may appear multiple times in both tables and the previous caution count in Table 2 will include all previous caution occasions from that point. Therefore an offender may appear several times in the data with a higher previous caution count for each later caution occasion.
	Please note that figures for 2005 only include cautions recorded from May to December. In addition 2012 only includes figures for cautions from January to end of June in line with published information.
	These figures are derived from the data used to produce Table 7k in the offending histories tables--June 2012 of the “Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly Update to June 2012” which was last published on 29 November 2012. The link to the report is found at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/criminal-justice/criminal-justice-statistics
	These figures have been drawn from the police's administrative IT system, the police national computer, which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. The figures are provisional and subject to change as more information is recorded by the police.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of cautions given to offenders under the age of 18 in England and Wales between May 2005 to June 2012 by police force region and offence class 
			 Number of cautions 
			 Region Offence Class 2005(1) 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012(2) 
			 East Midlands Burglary 282 384 400 292 218 185 155 66 
			  Criminal damage 856 1,032 631 529 278 203 208 59 
			  Drug offences 331 446 485 402 475 531 513 242 
			  Fraud and forgery 47 147 83 84 34 36 33 16 
			  Indictable motoring offences 1 1 5 — — — 2 1 
			  Other indictable offences 115 168 142 125 97 96 64 27 
			  Robbery 14 23 37 23 24 28 16 2 
			  Sexual offences 49 59 47 59 52 56 49 19 
			  Summary motoring offences 4 13 10 8 2 2 2 1 
			  Summary offences excluding motoring 2,275 4,306 4,363 3,274 2,434 2,219 1,827 667 
			  Theft and handling stolen goods 2,125 3,446 3,215 2,451 2,061 1,613 1,246 427 
			  Violence against the person 1,065 1,179 899 700 534 479 430 164 
			 East Midlands total  7,164 11,204 10,317 7,947 6,209 5,448 4,545 1,691 
			           
			 Eastern Burglary 317 542 412 320 274 171 153 39 
			  Criminal damage 436 671 569 474 376 266 153 43 
			  Drug offences 398 566 693 939 831 769 775 288 
			  Fraud and forgery 56 124 121 104 74 56 52 16 
			  Indictable motoring offences — 5 — — — 1 — — 
			  Other indictable offences 75 127 184 141 148 126 91 28 
			  Robbery 18 20 16 9 15 9 22 6 
			  Sexual offences 38 69 63 67 58 47 52 31 
			  Summary motoring offences 7 15 17 14 7 1 3 1 
			  Summary offences excluding motoring 3,208 5,270 5,697 4,911 3,913 2,831 2,163 790 
			  Theft and handling stolen goods 2,758 4,642 5,050 4,072 3,693 2,243 1,553 463 
			  Violence against the person 695 1,000 891 694 668 479 383 148 
			 Eastern total  8,006 13,051 13,713 11,745 10,057 6,999 5,400 1,853 
			           
		
	
	
		
			 London Burglary 218 352 360 278 205 118 78 38 
			  Criminal damage 416 761 529 181 120 60 38 15 
			  Drug offences 963 1,350 1,571 1,834 1,550 1,213 896 421 
			  Fraud and forgery 105 155 233 260 186 142 55 32 
			  Indictable motoring offences 3 — 3 1 — 1 — — 
			  Other indictable offences 159 312 327 262 215 173 110 22 
			  Robbery 105 238 250 188 116 110 130 30 
			  Sexual offences 32 48 62 72 63 36 36 15 
			  Summary motoring offences 3 14 25 28 15 12 4 4 
			  Summary offences excluding motoring 1,869 3,598 3,906 3,809 2,633 1,740 1,184 386 
			  Theft and handling stolen goods 2,384 3,926 3,898 3,206 2,978 1,901 1,069 385 
			  Violence against the person 771 1,335 1,134 814 536 414 325 129 
			 London total  7,028 12,089 12,298 10,933 8,617 5,920 3,925 1,477 
			           
			 North East Burglary 174 311 285 186 153 111 89 53 
			  Criminal damage 341 498 307 296 237 163 168 68 
			  Drug offences 328 389 316 333 266 177 198 72 
			  Fraud and forgery 42 63 72 72 50 36 26 11 
			  Indictable motoring offences 1 2 1 1 1 1 — 1 
			  Other indictable offences 70 157 137 134 72 82 52 12 
			  Robbery 5 14 6 8 3 4 1 1 
			  Sexual offences 32 37 36 35 26 29 33 11 
			  Summary motoring offences 3 8 13 10 7 2 2 1 
			  Summary offences excluding motoring 2,555 4,424 4,723 3,562 2,484 1,510 1,287 546 
			  Theft and handling stolen goods 1,601 2,668 2,848 2,203 1,919 964 810 335 
			  Violence against the person 561 899 749 540 411 322 242 101 
			 North East total  5,713 9,470 9,493 7,380 5,629 3,401 2,908 1,212 
			           
			 North West Burglary 566 859 714 525 476 348 252 97 
			  Criminal damage 286 428 380 301 200 170 103 25 
			  Drug offences 869 1,029 1,527 1,701 1,612 1,169 910 327 
			  Fraud and forgery 83 116 151 109 112 75 55 21 
			  Indictable motoring offences 2 2 3 2 2 1 — — 
			  Other indictable offences 158 217 232 211 175 137 113 52 
			  Robbery 28 34 47 24 24 20 27 10 
			  Sexual offences 47 71 98 59 52 63 42 21 
			  Summary motoring offences 13 19 17 19 8 6 2 2 
			  Summary offences excluding motoring 4,882 7,786 7,576 5,911 4,295 3,150 2,351 822 
			  Theft and handling stolen goods 3,117 4,578 4,370 3,582 2,655 1,974 1,314 415 
			  Violence against the person 1,540 1,979 1,630 1,098 860 684 489 200 
			 North West total  11,591 17,118 16,745 13,542 10,471 7,797 5,658 1,992 
			           
			 South East Burglary 462 687 702 484 393 312 256 77 
			  Criminal damage 548 1,023 746 487 389 278 229 89 
			  Drug offences 940 1,109 1,363 1,511 1,069 873 689 307 
			  Fraud and forgery 122 200 320 189 109 69 67 22 
			  Indictable motoring offences 1 7 1 1 2 1 — — 
			  Other indictable offences 167 268 316 203 208 135 114 28 
			  Robbery 27 43 26 22 17 14 16 3 
		
	
	
		
			  Sexual offences 88 127 104 82 76 66 53 29 
			  Summary motoring offences 9 21 23 25 19 12 12 1 
			  Summary offences excluding motoring 5,572 8,178 8,311 6,327 4,989 3,580 2,626 1,000 
			  Theft and handling stolen goods 4,441 6,302 6,589 5,396 5,137 3,160 1,734 599 
			  Violence against the person 1,171 1,687 1,504 1,069 923 647 522 190 
			 South East total  13,548 19,652 20,005 15,796 13,331 9,147 6,318 2,345 
			           
			 South West Burglary 320 403 414 328 237 195 139 64 
			  Criminal damage 308 532 421 303 239 194 175 62 
			  Drug offences 475 623 633 677 569 645 682 305 
			  Fraud and forgery 59 98 97 78 38 37 30 16 
			  Indictable motoring offences — 1 2 — — 1 — — 
			  Other indictable offences 104 138 146 98 96 94 61 22 
			  Robbery 10 18 11 8 6 6 2 3 
			  Sexual offences 37 52 53 60 52 52 43 23 
			  Summary motoring offences 12 27 19 15 9 11 4 4 
			  Summary offences excluding motoring 3,156 5,191 5,303 4,265 2,956 2,381 1,988 806 
			  Theft and handling stolen goods 2,279 3,599 3,446 2,573 1,935 1,383 1,045 381 
			  Violence against the person 605 828 650 545 422 363 269 110 
			 South West total  7,365 11,510 11,195 8,950 6,559 5,362 4,438 1,796 
			           
			 Wales Burglary 249 377 317 310 239 162 105 38 
			  Criminal damage 521 881 722 700 572 391 230 105 
			  Drug offences 399 469 390 485 399 373 348 157 
			  Fraud and forgery 36 51 42 38 28 25 13 4 
			  Indictable motoring offences — 7 — 1 1 1 1 — 
			  Other indictable offences 174 293 152 75 66 50 32 12 
			  Robbery 13 9 7 7 3 — 2 2 
			  Sexual offences 25 36 31 29 31 20 33 8 
			  Summary motoring offences 6 10 12 8 3 — 3 1 
			  Summary offences excluding motoring 1,424 2,643 2,943 2,805 2,329 1,573 1,110 457 
			  Theft and handling stolen goods 1,400 1,940 2,064 1,991 1,799 1,080 635 260 
			  Violence against the person 478 743 551 436 320 186 170 53 
			 Wales total  4,725 7,459 7,231 6,885 5,790 3,861 2,682 1,097 
			           
			 West Midlands Burglary 355 563 461 331 213 201 170 73 
			  Criminal damage 230 526 431 235 137 99 83 37 
			  Drug offences 588 882 759 694 564 486 463 182 
			  Fraud and forgery 64 122 108 81 75 49 28 7 
			  Indictable motoring offences 2 6 — 5 1 1 1 — 
			  Other indictable offences 163 314 281 270 162 118 83 20 
			  Robbery 17 52 50 48 33 34 21 10 
			  Sexual offences 77 91 83 65 51 51 36 22 
			  Summary motoring offences 6 11 14 13 7 1 3 1 
			  Summary offences excluding motoring 4,297 6,517 6,624 4,615 2,849 1,863 1,470 543 
			  Theft and handling stolen goods 2,691 4,346 4,253 2,846 1,977 1,167 835 276 
			  Violence against the person 1,061 1,631 1,344 1,131 788 519 424 177 
		
	
	
		
			 West Midlands total  9,551 15,061 14,408 10,334 6,857 4,589 3,617 1,348 
			           
			 Yorkshire and Humberside Burglary 404 681 642 464 381 265 243 88 
			  Criminal damage 449 708 723 558 401 201 194 78 
			  Drug offences 423 584 547 531 463 382 380 159 
			  Fraud and forgery 55 119 83 106 56 44 37 13 
			  Indictable motoring offences 3 7 4 3 1 1 — 1 
			  Other indictable offences 173 312 255 198 154 109 90 32 
			  Robbery 41 46 53 35 20 16 10 9 
			  Sexual offences 54 81 68 42 39 54 45 25 
			  Summary motoring offences 10 31 18 17 11 14 13 6 
			  Summary offences excluding motoring 4,508 7,078 6,437 4,690 3,256 2,145 1,655 634 
			  Theft and handling stolen goods 3,106 4,596 4,757 3,772 3,295 1,642 1,186 418 
			  Violence against the person 1,275 2,060 1,727 1,169 816 587 472 135 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside total  10,501 16,303 15,314 11,585 8,893 5,460 4,325 1,598 
			           
			 Grand total  85,192 132,917 130,719 105,097 82,413 57,984 43,816 16,409 
			 (1) 2005 includes data from May to December only. (2) 2012 includes data from January to June only. Source: Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Number of cautions given to offenders under the age of 18 in England and Wales between May 2005 to June 2012 by police force region and by previous cautions. 
			 Number of cautions 
			 Region Number of previous cautions received 2005(1) 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012(2) 
			 East Midlands 0 5,509 8,416 7,324 5,646 4,506 3,936 3,287 1,250 
			  1-2 1,640 2,747 2,945 2,263 1,690 1,495 1,247 437 
			  3-6 15 41 48 38 13 17 11 4 
			 East Midlands total  7,164 11,204 10,317 7,947 6,209 5,448 4,545 1,691 
			           
			 Eastern 0 6,441 10,080 10,500 8,766 7,534 5,165 3,865 1,322 
			  1-2 1,558 2,965 3,200 2,964 2,510 1,822 1,526 529 
			  3-6 7 6 13 15 13 12 9 2 
			 Eastern total  8,006 13,051 13,713 11,745 10,057 6,999 5,400 1,853 
			           
			 London 0 5,728 9,800 9,838 8,554 6,745 4,558 3,008 1,153 
			  1-2 1,295 2,282 2,456 2,367 1,865 1,361 913 319 
			  3-6 5 7 4 12 7 1 4 5 
			 London total  7,028 12,089 12,298 10,933 8,617 5,920 3,925 1,477 
			           
			 North East 0 4,263 6,925 6,952 5,248 3,814 2,084 1,870 832 
			  1-2 1,444 2,532 2,532 2,124 1,809 1,311 1,035 379 
			  3-6 6 13 9 8 6 6 3 1 
			 North East total  5,713 9,470 9,493 7,380 5,629 3,401 2,908 1,212 
			           
			 North West 0 8,999 12,879 12,320 9,913 7,446 5,533 4,023 1,461 
			  1-2 2,579 4,197 4,386 3,600 3,003 2,248 1,621 525 
		
	
	
		
			  3-6 13 42 39 29 22 16 14 6 
			 North West total  11,591 17,118 16,745 13,542 10,471 7,797 5,658 1,992 
			           
			 South East 0 10,113 14,438 14,612 11,346 9,627 6,518 4,377 1,693 
			  1-2 3,374 5,152 5,337 4,408 3,674 2,611 1,922 642 
			  3-6 61 62 56 42 30 18 19 10 
			 South East total  13,548 19,652 20,005 15,796 13,331 9,147 6,318 2,345 
			           
			 South West 0 5,831 8,820 8,359 6,616 4,728 3,835 3,236 1,309 
			  1-2 1,527 2,683 2,824 2,328 1,825 1,520 1,197 487 
			  3-6 7 7 12 6 6 7 5 — 
			 South West total  7,365 11,510 11,195 8,950 6,559 5,362 4,438 1,796 
			           
			 Wales 0 3,510 5,419 5,249 4,944 4,119 2,655 1,788 722 
			  1-2 1,196 2,003 1,951 1,908 1,646 1,199 886 365 
			  3-6 19 37 31 33 25 7 8 10 
			 Wales total  4,725 7,459 7,231 6,885 5,790 3,861 2,682 1,097 
			           
			 West Midlands 0 7,205 11,275 10,504 7,210 4,901 3,237 2,593 1,001 
			  1-2 2,321 3,736 3,876 3,097 1,934 1,339 1,014 346 
			  3-6 23 50 28 27 22 13 10 1 
			  7-10 2 — — — — — — — 
			 West Midlands total  9,551 15,061 14,408 10,334 6,857 4,589 3,617 1,348 
			           
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 0 7,902 11,833 10,975 8,114 6,349 3,757 3,013 1,171 
			  1-2 2,589 4,438 4,315 3,447 2,530 1,688 1,307 424 
			  3-6 10 32 24 24 14 15 5 3 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside total  10,501 16,303 15,314 11,585 8,893 5,460 4,325 1,598 
			           
			 Grand total  85,192 132,917 130,719 105,097 82,413 57,984 43,816 16,409 
			 (1) 2005 includes data from May to December only. (2) 2012 includes data from January to June only. Source: Ministry of Justice

Young Offenders: Reoffenders

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of young offenders in (a) Barnsley Central constituency, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) England have gone on to reoffend.

Jeremy Wright: The following table presents the number of juvenile offenders (aged under 18) in South Yorkshire and England who were released from custody, received a non-custodial conviction at court, received a caution, reprimand, warning or tested positive for opiates or cocaine in April 2010-March 2011 (the latest figures available); and the proportion that committed a proven reoffence within a one-year follow-up period.
	
		
			 April 2010 to March 2011 Percentage/number 
			 South Yorkshire  
			 Proportion of offenders who reoffend (percentage) 34.1 
			 Number of offenders in cohort(1) 2,232 
			 England  
			 Proportion of offenders who reoffend (percentage) 35.8 
			 Number of offenders in cohort(1) 82,977 
			 (1) This number does not represent all proven offenders. Offenders who were released from custody or commenced a court order are matched to the police national computer database. A certain proportion of these offenders cannot be matched and are, therefore, excluded from the offender cohort, ie the group of offenders for whom re-offending is measured. 
		
	
	In response to a Ministry of Justice consultation on improvements to reoffending statistics, proven reoffending data is only produced at the regional, probation area and local authority level and not at constituency level.
	Proven reoffending is defined as any offence committed in a one-year follow-up period and receiving a court conviction, caution, reprimand or warning in the one year follow-up. Following this one-year period, a further six mouth waiting period is allowed for cases to progress through the courts.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Banks: Fraud

Paul Flynn: To ask the Attorney-General if he will initiate a prosecution for fraud of those individuals who held the posts of (a) chairman, (b) chief executive and (c) board member at the time of the collapse of (i) the Royal Bank of Scotland, (ii) Halifax Bank of Scotland and (iii) Lloyds Bank.

Oliver Heald: As and when matters come to the attention of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) they are assessed in the context of the SFO's remit to investigate fraud, bribery and corruption. If appropriate, relevant matters will be considered for criminal investigation in line with SFO internal procedures.

Computers

John Redwood: To ask the Attorney-General how many (a) desktop computers, (b) laptop computers and (c) tablet devices the Law Officers' Departments has purchased in the last two years.

Oliver Heald: The Attorney-General's Office, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and the Crown Prosecution Service have not purchased any such devices during the last two years.
	Information technology equipment is provided to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) through a managed service contract agreement with CGI IT UK Limited and the Department does not own the equipment.
	Information on IT purchases made by the Treasury Solicitor's Department and the
	Serious Fraud Office is contained in the following table:
	
		
			  Desktop computer Laptop computer Tablet 
			 Department 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 
			 Treasury Solicitor's Department (1)180 51 0 105 0 0 
			 Serious Fraud Office 0 0 0 250 0 0 
			 (1) The devices purchased were thin client devices which are used in the same way as a desktop but have no hard drive, with all applications being stored instead on a network.

Rape: Greater London

Harriet Harman: To ask the Attorney-General how many charges for rape were brought in the London borough of Southwark in each year from 2007 to 2012.

Oliver Heald: Records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) identify the number of rape offences charged. CPS records do not identify the number of defendants prosecuted for specific offences. Rather, they show the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced and reached a first hearing in magistrates courts.
	During the last six years the number of offences of rape recorded in the CPS Unit which prosecutes crimes committed in the London borough of Southwark was as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2007 49 
			 2008 43 
			 2009 32 
			 2010 111 
			 2011 68 
			 2012 77 
		
	
	The CPS defines rape as any offence from the following list:
	Section 1 Sexual Offences Act 1956;
	Section 5 Sexual Offences Act 1956;
	Section 1 Sexual Offences Act 2003;
	Section 5 Sexual Offences Act 2003;
	Section 30(3) Sexual Offences Act 2003;
	An attempt to commit any of the above offences under the Criminal Attempts Act 1981;
	Incitement or conspiracy to commit any of the above offences.
	It is not possible to disaggregate figures to show separately the volume and outcome of proceedings for each individual offence on this list. A single defendant may be charged with more than one offence.

Visits Abroad

John Redwood: To ask the Attorney-General what the Law Officers' Departments' budget was for overseas travel for officials and Ministers in 2012-13.

Oliver Heald: Information on the Law Officers' Departments budgets for overseas travel by officials in 2012-13 is contained in the following table. The Attorney-General's Office budget also includes a provision for ministerial travel.
	
		
			 £ 
			 Department Budget Actual expenditure 
			 Treasury Solicitor's Department 135,000 112,523 
			 Attorney-General's Office 43,000 36,706 
			 HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate 9,000 967 
			 Crown Prosecution Service (1)— 627,871 
			 Serious Fraud Office 194,384 65,607 
			 (1) No set budget

CABINET OFFICE

Direct Selling

John Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent discussions he has had with the organisation Which? on nuisance telephone calls.

Nick Hurd: As part of the Department's transparency programme, details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on the Cabinet Office website at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings-external-organisations

Childbirth

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many (a) hospital and (b) home deliveries there were by primary care trust in (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11, (iii) 2011-12 and (iv) 2012-13.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated April 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many (a) hospital and (b) home deliveries there were by Primary Care Trust in (i) 2009/10, (ii) 2010/11, (iii) 2011/12 and (iv) 2012/13
	Table 1 provides the number of live births that (a) occurred in a hospital, and (b) occurred at home by Primary Care Trust in England for the financial years 2009/10 and 2010/11 (the latest year available). Figures for 2011/12 will be available in July 2013. A copy of Table 1 has been placed in the library of the House.
	Live births in England and Wales by the mother's usual area of residence are published annually on the National Statistics website. The latest data were published in October 2012 and are available at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/births-by-area-of-usual-residence-of-mother--england-and-wales/2011/index.html
	These figures are published by calendar year and so will not match the figures provided in this Answer.

Job Creation

Dominic Raab: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office in which occupations the greatest number of new jobs has been created in each of the last 10 years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated April 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, in which occupations the greatest number of new jobs has been created in each of the last 10 years (151254)
	Estimates of the numbers of new jobs created are not available. As an alternative, the Labour Force Survey (LFS) provides estimates of people in employment by main type of occupation. These estimates are published as a supplementary table to the monthly Labour Market Statistical Bulletin, available via this link:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/february-2013/table-emp08.xls
	The table provided contains the LFS estimates for the October to December period in each of the last ten years. The changes over time provide a broad indication of the occupational groups in which job creation was strongest. Management, professional and technical occupations have generally shown the strongest employment growth over the last ten years.
	
		
			 Employment by main occupation group 
			 United Kingdom (thousands) not seasonally adjusted 
			 Standard occupational classification (SOC) 2000 
			 October to December each year All(1) Managers and senior officials Professional occupations Associate professional and technical Administrative and secretarial Skilled trades Personal services Sales and customer services Process, plant and machine operatives Elementary occupations 
			 Totals:           
			 2002 28,133 4,045 3,341 3,799 3,696 3,276 2,000 2,239 2,287 3,407 
			 2003 28,316 4,088 3,450 3,907 3,580 3,323 2,150 2,296 2,172 3,297 
			 2004 28,668 4,269 3,515 3,928 3,635 3,325 2,171 2,298 2,125 3,331 
			 2005 28,844 4,277 3,653 4,116 3,519 3,263 2,235 2,263 2,204 3,241 
			 2006 29,151 4,360 3,838 4,062 3,476 3,247 2,305 2,303 2,128 3,367 
			 2007 29,475 4,449 3,817 4,282 3,394 3,248 2,349 2,257 2,126 3,472 
			 2008 29,399 4,539 3,833 4,303 3,325 3,180 2,504 2,270 2,025 3,326 
			 2009 28,964 4,515 3,979 4,253 3,198 3,081 2,542 2,154 1,943 3,211 
			 2010 29,182 4,524 4,077 4,303 3,168 3,033 2,567 2,159 1,894 3,348 
			 2011 29,205 4,640 3,851 4,417 3,196 3,061 2,584 2,154 1,851 3,378 
			 2012 29,794 4,852 4,046 4,585 3,120 2,956 2,620 2,173 1,859 3,411 
			 Year-on-year changes:           
			 2003 183 43 109 107 -116 47 151 56 -115 -110 
			 2004 352 181 65 22 55 3 21 2 -47 34 
			 2005 176 8 139 188 -118 -63 63 -35 79 -90 
			 2006 307 83 185 -55 -43 -16 71 40 -76 126 
			 2007 324 89 -21 221 -82 1 44 -46 -2 105 
			 2008 -76 90 16 21 -69 -68 155 13 -102 -146 
			 2009 -434 -24 145 -51 -127 -98 38 -116 -82 -115 
			 2010 217 9 99 51 -30 -48 24 4 -49 138 
		
	
	
		
			 2011 23 116 -226 114 28 28 18 -5 -43 29 
			 2012 589 212 194 168 -76 -105 36 19 8 33 
			 Change over last ten years:           
			 2002 to 2012 1,661 807 705 786 -577 -320 620 -66 -429 4 
			 (1) Includes people who did not state their occupation. Note: The data for the estimates from 2011 onwards have been coded on the new SOC 2010 basis and then mapped to an equivalent SOC 2000 basis. Consequently, the pro-2011 estimates are not entirely consistent with those from 2011 onwards and should be intrepreted with caution. Source: Labour Force Survey

Job Creation

Dominic Raab: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of new jobs created in each of the last 10 years required a university degree.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated April 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what proportion of new jobs created in each of the last 10 years required a university degree. [151487].
	The requested statistics are not available. Information on the number of jobs requiring a degree is not collected and there are no direct estimates of the number of jobs created.

Public Sector: Procurement

Nick Brown: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what checks he makes on the terms on which prime public sector contractors subcontract work out to other companies.

Chloe Smith: As was the case under the previous Government, it is the responsibility of contracting authorities to monitor the terms on which prime public sector contractors subcontract work to other companies.

Public Sector: Procurement

Nick Brown: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what checks he makes on the performance of individual Departments in awarding public sector contracts to small and medium-sized enterprises.

Chloe Smith: SMEs are the lifeblood of our economy and that's why we are determined to support them in winning a larger slice of government contracts than in the past.
	Since the general election, central Government Departments have developed action plans to increase spend with SMEs, and report spend on a monthly basis to the Efficiency and Reform Group in the Cabinet Office. Such performance was never even measured by the last Government.
	The most recent published data show that direct spend with SMEs across Government has steadily increased since 2010: This can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/news/departmental-sme-spend-for-2011-12-reveals-steady-increase

Roads: Accidents

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many fatalities arising from road traffic accidents involving (a) motorcyclists, (b) cyclists and (c) pedestrians there have been in the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated April 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many fatalities arising from road traffic accidents involving (a) motorcyclists, (b) cyclists and (c) pedestrians there have been in each of the last five years. (152041)
	The table provides the number of fatalities arising from road traffic accidents involving pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists registered in the years 2007 to 2011 (the latest data available).
	For reference, you can see the full list of transport accident causes of death here, by downloading Table 5, then going to Table 5.19:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-277727
	
		
			 Table 1. Number of deaths from transport accidents involving pedestrians, cyclists and motorcycles, England and Wales, deaths registered between 2007 and 2011(1,2,3) 
			 Deaths 
			 Transport accident 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 Pedestrian 645 604 469 398 365 
			 Pedal cyclist 136 118 113 96 98 
			 Motorcycle rider 517 477 431 347 317 
			 (1) Figures show deaths registered, rather than deaths occurring, in a calendar year. Further information on registration delays for a range of causes can be found on the ON'S website: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/user-guidance/health-and-life-events/impact-of-registration-delays-on-mortality-statistics/index.html (2) Figures include deaths of non-residents (3) Underlying cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes V01-V09 (pedestrian). V10-V19 (Pedal cyclist) and V20-V29 (Motorcyclist) Source: Office for National Statistics

EDUCATION

Academies

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what the average time taken by schools was from initial expression of interest to opening as (a) an academy in each of the last five years and (b) a free school in each year since 2010;
	(2)  what the (a) longest and (b) shortest period of time has been for schools to open as (i) an academy and (ii) a free school from the time of initial expression of interest, including applications which have not yet completed in each of the last five years.

Elizabeth Truss: For converter academies, many schools submit an application without registering interest beforehand; therefore the time has been taken from the date at which an Academy Order has been issued to the date of opening. The average length of time for a converter academy in each of the last three years was: 3.4 months in 2010; 4.8 months in 2011; 6.6 months in 2012 and 7.8 months so far in 2013. In part this is because academies are increasingly tending to open on peak dates in September and April while applications, apart from the summer, remain reasonably steady.
	For sponsored academies, these figures represent the amount of time between ministerial approval of the statement of intent (SOI) and opening date. The average length of time for a sponsored academy in each of the last five academic years was: 22 months in 2008/09; 22.5 months in 2009/10; 16.5 months in 2010/11; 11.4 months in 2011/12; and 10.5 months in 2012/13.
	Using the same criteria to measure the lengths of time, the longest period for a converter academy was 22.1 months, and for a sponsored academy it was 56 months. Both the shortest converter academy and the shortest sponsored academy took one month.
	The first free schools opened in 2011 and took between 11 and 15 months from initial application to opening, depending on when schools applied. For free schools opening in 2012, 2013 and 2014 there has been a set annual application cycle. Under this cycle, the time from initial application to opening was typically 16 months for schools opening in 2012, 19 months for schools opening in 2013 and it will be 20 months for schools that will open in 2014. Currently, the project that was delivered in the shortest time from application to opening was 11 months and the project that has taken the longest was three years after their application was received.

Academies

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to minimise legal costs to schools that wish to convert to academy status.

Elizabeth Truss: In order to minimise the legal costs to schools that wish to convert to academy status, the Department has produced model legal documents (including the Funding Agreement, Articles, Memorandum and land documents) which are available to download from the Department's website. The Department also provides a flat-rate grant of £25,000 to each school in order to assist with the costs associated with conversion to academy status.

Academies

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will publish the terms and conditions of the contracts of academy brokers.

Elizabeth Truss: Academy brokers are contracted to the Department to provide education advice services. Schedule 1 of the contract sets out the services to be supplied, and a copy of the contract has been placed in the House Libraries.

Academies

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education who audits the affairs of the groups into which school academies are organised.

Elizabeth Truss: As companies and charitable trusts, individual academy trusts and multi academy trusts are required to appoint independent auditors to report on their financial statements. This requirement is also in funding agreements, which are the Secretary of State's contracts with academies. The Secretary of State also requires these auditors to deliver an opinion on the regularity of the academy trust's income and expenditure. This opinion is delivered jointly to the Secretary of State (through the Education Funding Agency) and to the academy trust. Academy trusts also appoint an auditor to review their internal control functions. The Education Funding Agency may also undertake risk based audits of academy trusts.

Academies

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether academies are able to seek competitive bids for the provision of services from outside the groups to which they belong.

Elizabeth Truss: Both individual academy trusts and multi academy trusts are able to procure services from external organisations. The academy trust must follow a fair and open procurement exercise to appoint the organisation(s) that will provide the services.

Children: Day Care

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which (a) organisations and (b) individuals in England have made representations advocating changes to adult-to-child ratios in childcare settings, other than in response to the Childcare Commission call for evidence.

Elizabeth Truss: I have had numerous conversations about staff to child ratios in childcare settings with individuals and organisations in England, as have officials of the Department. These conversations revealed a wide range of views. There is a recognition that staff-to- child ratios have remained the same for decades, and have not kept pace with the significant changes in child care and early education we have seen in this country. This reinforces the case for reviewing those rules and considering greater flexibility for providers to deploy better qualified staff to meet children's needs effectively.

Children: Day Care

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  when he intends to publish a summary of the responses received to the Childcare Commission call for evidence; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the full text of responses received to the Childcare Commission call for evidence;
	(2)  how many responses to the Childcare Commission call for evidence advocated changes to adult-to-child ratios in childcare settings; and from whom such representations were received.

Elizabeth Truss: Last year the Department for Education and Department for Work and Pensions ran a joint call for evidence to inform the work of the commission on child care. The Government intend to publish a summary report of responses to this call for evidence and will place a copy in the Library.

Children: Disability

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much each local authority has spent on short breaks for disabled children in each financial year since 2010-11. [Official Report, 20 May 2013, Vol. 563, c. 9MC.]

Edward Timpson: Data on how much each local authority spends on short breaks for disabled children are collected through the section 251 return. Data from the section 251 returns for 2010-2011 and 2011-12 are set out in the following table. Data for 2012-13 will be available at the beginning of 2014.
	
		
			  2010-11 2011-12 
			 England 212,622,518 221,821,825 
			    
			 City of London 0 0 
			 Camden 1,185,171 2,672,686 
			 Greenwich 976,985 1,129,743 
			 Hackney 1,043,584 984,790 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 0 742,773 
			 Islington 1,549,902 1,093,436 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 789,987 1,444,987 
			 Lambeth 1,312,930 689,957 
			 Lewisham 157,384 439,978 
			 Southwark 428,112 0 
			 Tower Hamlets 2,584,061 2,105,684 
			 Wandsworth 1,931,824 1,563,037 
			 Westminster 455,399 310,613 
			 Barking and Dagenham 1,505,492 1,342,826 
			 Barnet 1,437,643 1,053,332 
			 Wakefield 4,433,209 2,889,280 
			 Gateshead 207,178 653,634 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 2,632,901 2,730,275 
			 North Tyneside 2,089,243 2,218,232 
			 South Tyneside 0 0 
			 Sunderland 305,697 955,138 
			 Isles of Scilly 9,984 17,160 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 935,961 647,047 
			 Bristol, City of 0 840,576 
			 North Somerset 845,000 958,182 
			 South Gloucestershire 1,790,000 1,272,860 
			 Hartlepool 610,151 1,181,170 
			 Middlesbrough 547,223 509,254 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 1,101,427 939,540 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 715,993 798,120 
			 Kingston Upon Hull, City of 148,675 1,370,228 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 1,026,763 762,796 
			 North East Lincolnshire 1,802,173 1,729,748 
			 North Lincolnshire 1,004,032 1,034,989 
			 North Yorkshire . 2,628,282 1,985,074 
			 York 87,354 1,487,414 
			 Luton 1,068,394 2,115,234 
			 Bedford 2,202,973 1,525,751 
			 Central Bedfordshire 2,069,563 1,536,370 
			 Buckinghamshire 0 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Milton Keynes 545,135 673,425 
			 Derbyshire 3,330,432 232,852 
			 Derby 111,423 555,860 
			 Dorset 0 0 
			 Poole 926,461 115,607 
			 Bournemouth 385,437 379,732 
			 Durham 3,079,175 2,763,939 
			 Darlington 353,548 455,579 
			 East Sussex 2,623,526 2,687,433 
			 Brighton and Hove 0 693,398 
			 Hampshire 0 2,866,988 
			 Portsmouth 378,633 388,019 
			 Southampton 634,233 611,687 
			 Leicestershire 1,247,045 2,273,904 
			 Leicester 922,982 66,360 
			 Rutland 98,796 241,510 
			 Staffordshire 1,332,968 1,270,870 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 1,791,640 1,777,665 
			 Wiltshire 100,625 981,725 
			 Swindon 0 802,437 
			 Bracknell Forest 874,137 627,799 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 1,034,349 856,666 
			 West Berkshire 1,011,071 1,167,194 
			 Reading 338,558 140,562 
			 Slough 29,522 475,237 
			 Wokingham 710,290 1,140,987 
			 Cambridgeshire 2,955,482 1,131,728 
			 Peterborough 0 0 
			 Halton 0 440,540 
			 Warrington 1,281,038 2,544 
			 Devon 4,296,518 4,151,334 
			 Plymouth 631,069 1,739,962 
			 Torbay 296,160 368,682 
			 Essex 3,654,700 3,573,117 
			 Southend-on-Sea 801,475 472,119 
			 Thurrock 821,328 785,486 
			 Herefordshire 931,379 576,159 
			 Worcestershire 3,062,066 2,436,297 
			 Kent 7,418,927 6,818,894 
			 Medway 1,440,668 1,264,450 
			 Lancashire 9,470,544 9,838,558 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 981,049 434,606 
			 Blackpool 609,674 364,570 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,994,752 6,452,155 
			 Nottingham 2,085,354 1,943,336 
			 Shropshire 1,710,298 2,240,991 
			 Telford and Wrekin 1,257,646 1,103,832 
			 Cheshire East 1,222,140 93,608 
			 Cheshire West and Chester 1,623,696 2,057,503 
			 Cornwall 1,594,192 5,109,973 
			 Cumbria 2,411,705 2,643,349 
			 Gloucestershire 3,645,842 2,965,597 
			 Hertfordshire 1,374,093 4,437,671 
			 Isle of Wight 1,178,074 1,045,534 
			 Lincolnshire 2,520,764 1,604,543 
			 Norfolk 36,560 752 
			 Northamptonshire 516,979 1,811,013 
			 Northumberland 222,483 1,973,316 
			 Oxfordshire 2,988,827 2,074,785 
			 Somerset 1,506,299 471,746 
			 Suffolk 120,075 51,766 
			 Surrey 6,496,545 8,063,783 
			 Warwickshire 1,045,165 3,259,999 
		
	
	
		
			 West Sussex 4,911,687 2,848,712 
			 Notes: 1. Information is as provided by local authorities in the s251 outturn collection. 2. Short breaks (respite) for disabled children includes all provision for short-breaks (respite) services for disabled children in need but not looked after. This includes the costs of short breaks utilising a residential setting—including overnight stays; day care and sessional visits to the setting; family based overnight and day care short break services—including those provided through contract and family link carers; sitting or sessional short break services in the child's home; or supporting the child to access activities in the community. The field excludes short breaks for looked after disabled children; any break exceeding 28 days continuous care; costs associated with providing disabled children's access to universal day services such as formal childcare, youth clubs; or extended school activities.

Children: Martial Arts

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will assess the effects on children of an increase in the practice of mixed martial arts.

Edward Timpson: holding answer 15 April 2013
	Martial arts are not currently a compulsory part of the school curriculum and there are no plans to change this. It is for schools to make their own decisions about whether to include martial arts within their PE and sports provision.
	We are not aware of any evidence that standards of provision in the practice of mixed martial arts are in any way harming the welfare and safety of children.

Drugs: Health Education

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what priority his Department is giving to drug prevention in schools;
	(2)  what his Department's strategy is for promoting and delivering abstinence-based drug education in schools.

Elizabeth Truss: Drug education is part of the statutory National Curriculum Science at Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3. Provision in this area can be further built on through non-statutory Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education, where teachers have the flexibility to tailor their programmes to the specific needs of their pupils. We expect schools to use their PSHE education programme to equip pupils with a sound understanding of risk and with the knowledge and skills necessary to make safe and informed decisions.
	To support schools we are launching a new evidence-based information service in April 2013 which will provide practical advice and tools based on the best international evidence. We are also funding the Centre for the Analysis of Youth Transition's repository of programme evaluations for a further year to add more programmes to the repository, enhance the website and support programmes to improve their strength of evidence.

Education: Northern Ireland

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent discussions he has had with the Education Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive.

Elizabeth Truss: Mr O'Dowd is scheduled to meet the Secretary of State for Education in London on 23 April.

Electronic Government: Petitions

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department has rejected any applications for an e-petition submitted to the Government's portal; and what the nature was of each such petition.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education has rejected 1,114 e-petitions since February 2012, from a total submitted of 2,303. A list of 886 rejected petitions can be found at the Government's e-petitions website(1). Reasons for rejection are included in the record for each e-petition on the website. The remaining 228 were offensive or libellous and have therefore been removed from the site.
	The nature of the rejected e-petitions is as follows:
	(1) http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/departments/6?state=rejected
	
		
			  Number 
			 Admissions 14 
			 Bullying 2 
			 Child protection, safeguarding 14 
			 Children's centres 10 
			 Corporal punishment 47 
			 Curriculum—political education 23 
			 Curriculum - PSHE 44 
			 Discipline 21 
			 Education Maintenance Allowance 35 
			 Education reform 12 
			 Faith schools 12 
			 First aid 15 
			 Forced adoptions 13 
			 GCSEs and A levels 21 
			 GCSEs 56 
			 Grammar schools 11 
			 Nursery schools 10 
			 Parental responsibility 10 
			 School holidays 23 
			 Special educational needs 24 
			 Youth services 19 
			 Other—these break down into 179 further categories, averaging two e-petitions each 432

E-mail

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will take steps to ensure that the Mrs Blurt e-mail account can be searched in response to requests submitted under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 where official government business is discussed.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 25 March 2013
	The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), and his special advisers use equipment and systems provided by the Department and their own IT equipment as appropriate, depending on their location and circumstances. Where information is generated in the course of conducting Government business, it is stored on departmental systems. This complies with the Information Commissioner’s recommendation that:
	‘Where necessity prompts the use of private e-mail for departmental business, DFE guidance should be clear that a departmental e-mail address must be copied in to ensure the completeness of the Department’s records.’

E-mail

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent advice he has sought from the Cabinet Office on the use of private e-mail accounts by his Department for the purposes of official Government business; and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss: None.

Foster Care

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many foster parents care for (a) one foster child and (b) two or more foster children.

Edward Timpson: Information about the number of foster children cared for by each foster carer is not collected centrally.

Free School Meals

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he plans to introduce the free school meals element of universal credit in October 2013.

David Laws: The Government are currently considering proposals for determining entitlement to free school meals under universal credit. We do not expect to introduce these until after October 2013. From April 2013, as universal credit is very gradually rolled out to small areas of the country as part of the pathfinder, all households receiving universal credit will be entitled to free school meals for their children. This is because they would have been entitled to out of work benefits under the current benefits system. This interim measure, to ensure children continue to receive free school meals during the pathfinder, does not reflect any decisions over FSM eligibility when universal credit is rolled out more widely.

GCE AS-level

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 12 March 2013, Official Report, column 142W, on GCE: AS level, which organisations he or Ministers in his Department have (a) met and (b) received representations on regarding changes to the status of AS levels in the last
	 Question number missing in Hansard, possibly truncated question.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 25 March 2013
	I have met and discussed our plans for A level reform, including changes to the AS qualification, with a range of organisations and individuals. A range of views on AS level reform have been expressed. It is for those individuals and groups to decide whether to make their views public.

GCSE

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the comparative GCSE attainment rates of Traveller and Gypsy children and other children in each of the last five years.

David Laws: The requested information can be found in Table 1 of the Statistical First Release (SFR)—‘GCSE and equivalent attainment by pupil characteristics in England’—which is published on our website here:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/a00219200/
	Table 1 can be found within the ‘Main tables: SFR04/2013’ excel link to the right of the SFR's webpage. The different years can be accessed by using the drop down menu on the top right hand side of the table.

GCSE

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of pupils (a) eligible and (b) not eligible for free school meals who attended (i) state-funded grammar schools and (ii) mainstream secondary schools that were not grammars achieved (A) A* to C in English and mathematics GCSE, (B) A* to C in five GCSEs including English and mathematics, (C) A* to C in five GCSEs including English and mathematics but excluding equivalents and (D) A* to C in five GCSEs including English, mathematics, one science, one language and history or geography in each year since 1997.

David Laws: holding answer 26 March 2013
	The requested information has been placed in the house libraries for the academic years 2008/09 to 2011/12. Information for earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

GCSE

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of pupils in each decile of deprivation achieved (a) five A* to C grades including English and mathematics at GCSE and (b) five A* to C grades including both English and mathematics at GCSE but excluding equivalents in each year since 1997.

David Laws: A five-year time series giving the percentage of pupils in each decile of deprivation according to the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) achieving 5 or more GCSEs at grade A* to C or equivalent including English and mathematics GCSEs or iGCSEs is published in the Statistical First Release ‘GCSE and equivalent attainment by pupil characteristics in England’. A link to the publication is given as follows and the relevant table (Table A1) can be found within the ‘Additional Tables’ download. The publication's underlying data include actual pupil numbers for the latest year.
	http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/allstatistics/a00219200/gcse-and-equivalent-attainment-
	Two tables have been placed in the House Libraries providing a five-year time series of the number and percentage of pupils in each decile of deprivation achieving 5 or more GCSEs at grade A* to C or equivalent including English and mathematics GCSEs or iGCSEs and those pupils achieving 5 or more GCSEs at grade A* to C excluding equivalents including English and mathematics GCSEs or iGCSEs. Information for earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Homework

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department issues guidelines which prohibit or discourage the use of red ink for the purposes of marking or commenting on students' schoolwork.

Elizabeth Truss: No, the Department does not issue guidelines which prohibit or discourage the use of red ink for marking student's schoolwork.

Marriage

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  if he will discuss with the Minister for Women and Equalities the introduction of a provision for parents to opt out of the teaching of same sex marriage to their children;
	(2)  if he will discuss with the Minister for Women and Equalities the introduction of a provision for (a) faith schools and (b) any other schools that so choose to opt out of requirements to teach about same-sex marriage.

Elizabeth Truss: Parents already have the right to withdraw their children from all parts of sex education not covered in the National Curriculum for Science, which covers the biology of reproduction. Such a provision would therefore not be necessary.
	When delivering sex education, schools—including faith schools—must ensure that pupils are presented with balanced, factual information about the nature and importance of marriage for family life and bringing up children. They are also required to ensure that they do not teach anything that would be considered inappropriate to a pupil's age, religious or cultural background. The Government's proposals for equal marriage do not change either of these.

Pre-school Education

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  if he will list the meetings (a) he, (b) his Ministers, (c) special advisers and (d) officials in his Department have convened of the Early Education Co-Production Group since January 2011;
	(2)  if he will list the meetings (a) he, (b) his Ministers, (c) special advisers and (d) officials in his Department have had with the members of the Early Education Co-Production Group since January 2011.

Elizabeth Truss: The Early Education Co-production Group has met 13 times since January 2011. The Co-production Steering Group met 12 times. The following list gives the dates of the meetings.
	Early Education Group
	24 March 2011
	6 April 2011
	4 May 2011
	14 July 2011
	5 September 2011
	13 October 2011
	16 November 2011
	15 December 2011
	11 January 2012
	8 February 2012
	28 March 2012
	25 May 2012
	4 July 2012
	Co-production Steering Group
	19 January 2011
	22 February 2011
	17 March 2011
	21 April 2011
	23 May 2011
	14 June 2011
	7 July 2011
	17 November 2011
	12 December 2011
	21 February 2012
	30 April 2012
	26 June 2012
	In July 2012 a decision was made to bring together these groups and this larger group met on two occasions on 26 October 2012 and 18 March 2013.
	Ministers, special advisers and officials have had numerous bilateral and multilateral meetings with members of the Early Education Co-production group, as well as with others with an interest in early years and child care policy, in the period since January 2011 and continue to do so.

Procurement

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the monetary value was of contracts awarded by his Department to (a) management consultancies and (b) IT companies in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department does not hold information at the level of detail requested and to analyse the data will result in disproportionate costs. However the departmental spend on consultancy for the last two years is as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 (i) 2010/11 1.847 
			 (ii) 2011/12 0.515 
		
	
	This expenditure relates to the administrating (running) costs within the Department and does not include consultancy costs that may be charged to a programme.
	In regards to the monetary value of contracts awarded to IT companies the total values were:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 (i) 2010/11 3.946 
			 (ii) 2011/12 35.473

Pupils: Smoking

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 10 December 2012, Official Report, column 99W, on smoking in schools, what consideration he has given to issuing a best practice guide for local education authorities and schools in order to assist in reducing the levels of underage smoking taking place on school premises.

Elizabeth Truss: We believe that the policies on smoking are a matter for local determination. Guidance on best practice in this area is best issued by professionals on the ground and not the Government.
	Schools are subject to the same smoke free legislation as other premises. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has developed guidance on school-based interventions to prevent the uptake of smoking amongst young people. They are currently examining the most recent evidence to see if the guidance needs updating.
	Pupils are also taught about effect of tobacco on the body as part of the National Curriculum for Science. In addition teachers can cover the facts about, and consequences of, smoking in non-statutory Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education.

Schools: Sports

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the number of schools which provide at least two hours of physical education or sport per week.

Edward Timpson: The Department does not collect data on the provision of physical education and sport in schools. Our priority is to enable schools to focus on improving their core PE and sporting provision, rather than placing unnecessary burdens on teachers through data collection requirements.
	Following the Prime Minister's recent announcement of £150 million a year funding for school sport in 2013-14 and 2014-15, the Department is working with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to extend the age range of the Active People survey to reflect children's participation in sport.

Special Educational Needs

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many people aged between 16 and 24 with special educational needs receive education or training from a private training provider.

Edward Timpson: holding answer 26 March 2013
	Data held by this Department show that during 2011/12 there were 13,548 young people aged between 16 and 24, with a self-declared special educational need, receiving education or training from an independent private provider.
	This figure relates to all young people whose study programme(s) were funded directly by the Education Funding Agency and who were aged 16 to 18, or 19 to 24, with a self-declared special educational need, including those who were also subject to a learning difficulty assessment.

Teachers: Training

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many trainee teachers have been awarded bursaries in (a) mathematics and (b) physics each year since teacher training bursaries were introduced.

David Laws: Training bursaries for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) for mathematics and physics were first introduced in academic year (AY) 1986/87. As such, it would not be possible to provide the information requested in this question without incurring disproportionate cost. However I can confirm the number of trainees eligible to date for a training bursary in AY 2012/13 and the rates payable.
	In AY 2012/13 high value bursaries were introduced to acknowledge the academic achievements of the trainee and their potential to teach. Trainees must have at least a 2:2 to access a bursary in a shortage subject this includes chemistry and modern languages in addition to physics and mathematics. £20,000 is payable to trainees with a 1st class honours degree or equivalent, £15,000 for a 2:1 and £12,000 for a 2:2.
	There are currently 1,799 mathematics trainees eligible for a training bursary and 524 trainees eligible for a physics training bursary. These numbers are subject to change as trainees can commence their ITT course at any point in the academic year.

Telephone Services

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) 0800, (b) 0808, (c) 0844, (d) 0845 and (e) 0870 telephone numbers for the public are in use by (i) his Department and (ii) the agencies for which he is responsible.

Elizabeth Truss: No central record of all telephone numbers in use by the Department and its agencies is held. A survey of telephone numbers in use by the Department and its agencies for the public and education workforce groups showed the following:
	0800 numbers: five (of which three are agency helplines)
	0808 numbers: six
	0844 numbers: 0
	0845 numbers: three (of which two are agency helplines)
	0870 numbers: 0.

Travel

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he has taken to offset the carbon dioxide emissions caused by ministerial travel.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education offsets all ministerial and official air and rail travel through the Government Carbon Offset Facility, operated by the Government Procurement Service. The Department is currently reviewing options for extending this commitment to cover all modes of departmental travel.
	Carbon emissions from all business travel are included in the Government's Greening Government Commitments (GGC) targets and are subject to a 25% reduction target by 2014/15. The Department is currently on course to meet the target and reported a reduction of 23% in 2011/12 against a 2009/10 baseline.

Truancy

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many days were missed due to unauthorised absence from maintained mainstream schools in (a) Bury St Edmunds constituency, (b) Suffolk and (c) England in each of the last three years.

Elizabeth Truss: Information on unauthorised absence from 2008/09 to 2010/11 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 State-funded primary and secondary schools(1, 2, 3): Unauthorised absence rates and days missed—Academic years 2008/09 to 2010/11—England, Suffolk local authority and Bury St Edmunds parliamentary constituency 
			  2008/09 
			  State-funded primary schools(1, 2) State-funded secondary schools(1, 3) Total 
			  Days missed due to unauthorised absence(4) Unauthorised absence rate(5) Days missed due to unauthorised absence(4) Unauthorised absence rate(5) Days missed due to unauthorised absence(4) Unauthorised absence rate(5) 
			 England 3,178,660 0.6 6,501,070 1.5 9,679,730 1.0 
		
	
	
		
			 Suffolk local authority 34,910 0.7 86,750 1.2 121,650 1.0 
			 Bury St Edmunds constituency 3,470 0.5 13,610 0.9 17,080 0.8 
		
	
	
		
			  2009/10 
			  State-funded primary schools(1, 2) State-funded secondary schools(1, 3) Total 
			  Days missed due to unauthorised absence(4) Unauthorised absence rate(5) Days missed due to unauthorised absence(4) Unauthorised absence rate(5) Days missed due to unauthorised absence(4) Unauthorised absence rate(5) 
			 England 3,332,700 0.7 6,297,870 1.4 9,630,580 1.0 
			 Suffolk local authority 35,080 0.7 79,430 1.1 114,510 0.9 
			 Bury St Edmunds constituency 3,640 0.5 10,660 0.7 14,300 0.7 
		
	
	
		
			  2010/11 
			  State-funded primary schools(1, 2) State-funded secondary schools(1, 3) Total 
			  Days missed due to unauthorised absence(4) Unauthorised absence rate(5) Days missed due to unauthorised absence(4) Unauthorised absence rate(5) Days missed due to unauthorised absence(4) Unauthorised absence rate(5) 
			 England 3,543,500 0.7 6,236,370 1.4 9,779,870 1.1 
			 Suffolk local authority 39,270 0.7 81,970 1.2 121,230 1.0 
			 Bury St Edmunds constituency 4,010 0.6 12,150 0.8 16,160 0.7 
			 (1 )Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes primary academies. (3) Includes city technology colleges and secondary academies. (4 )Number of sessions missed due to unauthorised absence divided by two. (5 )The number of sessions missed due to unauthorised absence expressed as a percentage of the total number of possible sessions. Note: Number of days missed has been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census 
		
	
	The latest data on absence, for the school year, are published as Statistical First Release 04/2012 ‘Pupil Absence in Schools in England, Including Pupil Characteristics: 2010/11' at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/allstatistics/a00206150/pupil-absence-schools-2010-2011
	‘Pupil Absence in Schools in England, Including Pupil Characteristics: 2011/12' was published on 19 March 2013 at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/a00221993/pupil-absence-eng-charact
	Copies of these reports will be placed in the House Libraries.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Apprentices

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many and what proportion of students entering apprenticeships were already in employment in each year since 2010.

Matthew Hancock: According to the 2011 Apprenticeship Pay Survey, 70% of apprentices in England were already working for their employer prior to the start of their apprenticeship. This report can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32286/12-p137-apprenticeship-pay-survey-2011.pdf
	There is no equivalent information for 2010; the 2012 Apprenticeship Pay Survey will be published later this year.

Arms Trade: Export Controls

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will discuss with his European counterparts ending the export of semi-automatic rifles and assault weapons to non-governmental persons and bodies.

Alistair Burt: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
	The Government have no plans to discuss ending the export of semi-automatic rifles and assault weapons to non-governmental persons and bodies. The UK maintains a rigorous and transparent arms export control system, whereby individual export licence applications for all controlled goods to all destinations are assessed on a case by case basis against the Consolidated European Union and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. We do not export equipment where we assess there is a clear risk that it might be used for internal repression, or would provoke or prolong conflict within a country, or would be used aggressively against another country.

Billing

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of compliance with the Government's prompt payment code.

Michael Fallon: The Prompt Payment Code is a voluntary code independently run by the Institute for Credit Management (ICM). Signatories commit to: (1) pay suppliers on time, (2) give clear guidance to suppliers and (3) encourage good practice. Signing up to the code is a public gesture of commitment to prompt payment and the ICM's focus is on promoting dialogue when cases of dispute do arise. There is a form for registering complaints about signatories on the Prompt Payment Code website. In addition, references are re-taken every six month to confirm continued good practice by signatories. So far the number of disputes raised and signatories removed remains low which indicates general compliance.

Billing

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will commission an assessment of the effect on economic growth of late payments by large firms which subcontract elements of their workload.

Michael Fallon: Cash flow difficulties arising from late payment affect the viability of many small and medium-sized businesses and as such would have a negative impact on GDP, although data are not available to quantify this.

Billing

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will carry out an assessment of the cost to small and medium-sized enterprises of late payments by large firms which subcontract elements of their workload.

Michael Fallon: Statistics on the scale and costs of late payment to small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) are collected by a number of organisations including Bacs and Experian. Recent research by Bacs indicates that the average amount of invoices in arrears owed to SMEs stands at £45,000 The Department is looking at late payment to subcontractors in the construction industry in developing the Construction Strategy due to be published in July.

Climate Change

Peter Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  whether the claim that every year since 1998 has been significantly warmer than the temperatures to be expected if there was no warming made by the Met Office in a climate science briefing sent to the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser on 8 February 2010 was supported by any statistical time-series analysis;
	(2)  whether the claim that for the last three decades the rate of temperature increase is significant which was made by the Met Office in a climate science briefing sent to the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser on 8 February 2010 was supported by any statistical time-series analysis.

Michael Fallon: I refer my right hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 15 April 2013, Official Report, column 261W, to the hon. Member for Blackley and Broughton (Graham Stringer).

Conditions of Employment: Greater London

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what information his Department holds on the number of people employed on zero hours contracts in (a) Greater London, (b) the London borough of Tower Hamlets and (c) Bethnal Green and Bow constituency in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Jo Swinson: According to the Labour Force Survey, there were some 17,000 people resident in Greater London who were on zero hours contracts between October and December 2012, accounting for 0.5% of the total number of employees in London. There are no statistically reliable estimates of the number of people on zero hours contracts in the London borough of Tower Hamlets or the Bethnal Green and Bow constituency, due to small survey sample sizes.

Conditions of Employment: Greater London

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what information his Department holds on the number of people employed on casual contracts in (a) Greater London, (b) the London borough of Tower Hamlets and (c) Bethnal Green and Bow constituency in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Jo Swinson: According to the Labour Force Survey, an estimated 214,000 people resident in Greater London were temporary workers between October and December 2012, around 6.7% of the total number of employees in London, of which some 24,000 (0.7% of total London employees) identified themselves as undertaking casual type of work.
	There are no statistically reliable Labour Force Survey estimates for temporary and casual workers for the London borough of Tower Hamlets or the Bethnal Green and Bow constituency over the same period, due to small survey sample sizes.

Diamond Jubilee 2012: Postage Stamps

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether the Royal Mail plans to issue a commemorative stamp to mark the 60th anniversary of the coronation of HM the Queen.

Michael Fallon: Matters relating to Royal Mail's special stamp programmes are the direct responsibility of the company's management.
	The company has announced that a set of commemorative stamps featuring “Royal Portraits” will be issued on 30 May to mark the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Her Majesty the Queen.

Energy: Lancashire

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the value of the energy sector to the economy in (a) Pendle constituency and (b) Lancashire.

Michael Fallon: Financial estimates of sectoral economic contributions are not calculated below the regional level so figures for the gross value added of the energy sector (defined here as the supply of electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning) are not available for the Pendle constituency and Lancashire.

EU Grants and Loans

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to his Department's press release of 26 March 2013 on the allocation of EU structural funding across the UK, how much of that funding each English region will be allocated for 2014 to 2020; and how much of such funding would have been allocated to (a) England and (b) each English region for that period if the EU formula for the allocation of funds had been implemented.

Michael Fallon: As set out in the press release of 26 March 2013, the Government announced the indicative Structural Funds allocation across the UK. All these figures remain indicative and will be confirmed only after agreement between Heads of State and Government and the European Parliament on the EU budget 2014-20.
	According to our estimates England will receive €6.174 billion, Scotland €795 million, Wales €2.145 billion and Northern Ireland €457 million. Compared to the 2007-13 UK allocation, this represents a 5% cut for England and each of the devolved Administrations.
	If the EU formula had been applied, the devolved Administrations would together have a significant cut in funding, in total 27%. The Government did not believe that this would have been fair.
	The UK may also receive additional funding to tackle youth unemployment in regions where this is above 25%. The Government will set out the allocations in relation to this when figures are confirmed.
	A decision on allocation to each English region has not yet been made. The Government has asked local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) to lead the development of an EU Investment Strategy for their area. Indicative allocations within England will therefore be by LEP area, rather than region.

Genetically Modified Organisms: Wheat

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills who holds the patents for the GM constructs encoding (E)-ß-farnesene synthase in wheat covered by release consent granted to Rothamsted Research issued by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2011 and funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council; and in which country each patent was granted.

Jo Swinson: Constructs to be used in wheat (Triticum aestivum) covered by the release consent granted to Rothamsted Research (11/R8/01) by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2011 detail “one or both of the following synthetic genes: (E)-ß-farnesene synthase and farnesyl diphosphate synthase.”
	Three patent applications explicitly disclosing the use of (E)-ß-farnesene synthase genes (from a variety of sources) in transgenic plants have been identified. None of these mentions the use of the gene in wheat and it is not clear which, if any of them, would be suitable for modifying wheat. The applications were filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty and could potentially result in patents granted in a large number of countries. However, to date only one patent has been granted, in the United States. The holder for this patent is listed as Ceres Inc of California, USA. The other two applications were filed by Keygene NV and Sapphire Energy and Scripps Research Institute.

Genetically Modified Organisms: Wheat

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills who holds the patents for the GM constructs encoding farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase in wheat covered by release consent granted to Rothamsted Research (11/R8/01) by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2011 and funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council is subject to a patent; and in which country each patent was granted.

Jo Swinson: Constructs to be used in wheat (Thticum aestivum) covered by the release consent granted to Rothamsted Research (11/R8/01) by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2011 detail “one or both of the following synthetic genes: (E)-ß-farnesene synthase and farnesyl diphosphate synthase.”
	Seven patent applications explicitly disclosing the use of farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase genes (from a variety of sources) in transgenic plants have been identified. None of these mentions the use of the gene in wheat and it is not clear which, if any of them, would be suitable for modifying wheat. Three applications were filed in China, one in Korea, one in the USA and two applications were made under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. The latter two applications could potentially result in patents granted in a large number of countries. However, to date only two patents have been granted, in the United States. The holder for these two patents is listed as Sapporo Breweries Ltd. The other applications were filed by Univ Fudan, Univ Southwest, Korea Kumho Petrochem Co Ltd, Univ Shanghai Jiatong, Sapphire Energy Inc. and Trustees of Southern Illinois University and Univ. Washington.

Green Investment Bank

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he expects the borrowing powers of the Green Investment Bank to commence.

Michael Fallon: The Government are fully committed to providing the Green Investment Bank with the funding it needs to be an enduring and effective financial institution. It has been allocated £3 billion for the period to March 2015. The level of funding after 2014/15 will be determined at the next spending review in the context of wider value for money and affordability considerations. The focus of the bank's management team is on building a well run organisation with a good track record worthy of the injection of more capital or of borrowing money in capital markets.

Green Investment Bank

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many staff the Green Investment Bank's business plan sets out would be employed; what the number of current employees is; how many vacancies there are to be filled; and what the timetable for filling those vacancies is;
	(2)  how many staff have been appointed by the Green Investment Bank; and what the Bank's budget is for staffing.

Michael Fallon: The UK Green Investment Bank (UK GIB) became operational in October 2012 following receipt of state aid approval from the European Commission. At that point 18 employees moved across to the Bank from the UK Green Investments team at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills where they had been working in preparation. Since then a further 51 employees have joined the UK GIB taking total headcount to 69. The Bank is currently recruiting for a number of additional roles and expects to reach a headcount of approximately 100 later this year once recruitment activity is complete.
	Full details about staff costs will be included in the information published by the Bank when it reports its financial results for the year 2012-13-expected for the end of June.

Job Creation

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of which occupations are likely to create the greatest numbers of new jobs in each year from 2013 to 2023.

Matthew Hancock: The most up-to-date analysis available on occupational projections is published in the UK Commission for Employment and Skills' “Working Futures 2010-20” evidence report. The report indicates that the occupational groups that are expected to show the most significant increases in employment over the period between 2010 and 2020 are:
	Managers, directors and senior officials (+544,000 jobs, 18% increase);
	Professional occupations (+869,000, 15%);
	Associate professional and technical occupations (+551,000, 14%); and
	Caring, leisure and other services (+313,000, 14%).(1)
	(1) Warwick Institute for Employment Research and Cambridge Econometrics (2011, revised 2012) “Working Futures 2010-2020”, UKCES evidence report 41: available online at:
	http://www.ukces.org.uk/assets/ukces/docs/publications/evidence-report-41-working-futures-2010-2020.pdf
	accessed on 12 April 2013: pp.xv-xvi.

Job Creation

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the proportion of new jobs which will require a university degree in each year from 2013 to 2023.

Matthew Hancock: The UK Commission for Employment and Skills produce a research report title ‘Working Futures’, which gives labour market projections by industry, occupation, qualification level, gender and employment status up to 2020.
	The full report is here:
	http://www.ukces.org.uk/assets/ukces/docs/publications/evidence-report-41-working-futures-2010-2020.pdf
	There is forecast to be a continued trend of employment growth in higher skilled, white collar occupations, including managers, professionals and associate professional roles. The study estimates 2 million additional jobs in these graduate-level occupation groups by 2020. These three occupation groups are projected to increase their share of total employment from 42% to 46% over the 10-year period.

Land Registry: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many staff are employed by HM Land Registry in Cumbria; and what proportion of those staff are paid at or above the relevant level of the living wage.

Michael Fallon: HM Land Registry does not employ any staff or have an office in Cumbria.

Property Development: Scotland

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with the Office of Fair Trading on the use of land maintenance companies by property developers to reserve land for future developments in Scotland.

Jo Swinson: No discussions have taken place as this is a devolved matter.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell), on 15 April 2013, Official Report, column 1W.

Senior Civil Servants

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 25 January 2013, Official Report, column 461W, on Senior Civil Servants, what proportion of the total number of staff of each grade have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement, (c) left the Department for alternative employment and (d) taken long-term sick leave.

Jo Swinson: Since May 2010 the numbers of staff at each grade from core BIS who have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement and (d) taken long term sick leave are as follows:
	
		
			  (a) Resigned (b) Voluntary Early Retirement (d) Long-term sick(1) 
			 AA 10 0 6 
			 AO 14 24 48 
			 EO 38 42 49 
			 HEO 74 53 59 
			 SEO 17 59 29 
			 G7 49 75 38 
			 G6 14 38 10 
			 SCS 16 (2)20 6 
			 Total 232 311 245 
			 (1) Defined as over 21 working days or 29 calendar days. (2) The answer of 25 January 2013, Official Report, column 461W, inadvertently included all those who had taken a voluntary funded exit as part of the departmental restructure. 
		
	
	Information regarding staff that have (c) left the Department for alternative employment is not known. BIS does not collect details of the future plans of staff who leave.
	It is not possible to provide these figures as a precise proportion given the changing average headcount at each grade overtime.

Vocational Training

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what investigation he made into the Citizens Trust and its record of payment of sub-contractors before engaging it as prime contractor for the Skills and Apprenticeship Support Contract.

Matthew Hancock: The Department of Business Innovation and Skills delegates responsibility for the contracting of further education and skills training to the Skills Funding Agency.
	During the procurement process for the Apprenticeships Support to Employers contract in 2011, the Skills Funding Agency reviewed the Citizens Trust's track record and delivery model, including its arrangements for recruiting, contracting with and monitoring sub-contractors. The agency's procurement process did not include investigation into any bidder's record of payment to sub-contractors.

Vocational Training

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps the Skills Funding Agency takes to ensure that its prime contractors on the Skills and Apprenticeship Support contract have paid their sub-contractors in accordance with their contracted terms and conditions.

Matthew Hancock: The Skills Funding Agency undertakes checks to ensure that providers have policies and processes in place for managing sub-contractors that reflect the Skills Funding Agency's contract terms and funding rules. A prime contractor delivering an Apprenticeships Support to Employers contract must have a legally binding agreement in place with each of its sub-contractors. Providers must pay the valid invoices of their subcontractors within 30 days of the invoice date. The sub-contract should explicitly state the basis for payment and the evidence required in order to support each payment.

Vocational Training

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will instruct the Skills Funding Agency to liaise with the Citizens Trust to ensure that payment is made to Q Step Ltd for the training it has provided in respect of the Skills/Apprenticeship Support Contract.

Matthew Hancock: The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) is unable to intervene in contractual disputes between prime contractors and their sub-contractors. The SFA is not aware that its funding rules or contract terms have been breached. The agency will take action in all cases where funding rules have not been fulfilled to protect the interests of learners and employers.